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This photo taken on June 17, 2018 shows Rohingya residents watching a match between Rohingya FC and the Cheras Harimau team during a three-day refugee tournament, marking the Islamic festival Eid al- Fitr, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur AFP
Malaysia is home to more than 70,000 members of the Muslim minority
Nearly 800,000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar after military forces ruthlessly launched ethnic cleansing against the minority group in Rakhine on August 25, 2017.
The Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, India and other countries of South Asia.
These Rohingyas may lack ostentation and glamor, but the football clubs of stateless Rohingya refugees in Malaysia offer something more.
Malaysia is home to more than 70,000 members of the Muslim minority.
And while many struggle to make a living and are deeply scarred red by the trauma of their past, football offers a welcome respite from the cold, hard reality.
On rugged terrain on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, surrounded by dilapidated buildings, these painful memories seem like a world away where players pbad ball and take shots in front of a small crowd of spectators.
"Football removes all my stress for 90 minutes," said Mohamad Ishak, a 17-year-old team member. "It helps you forget some of your problems."
Nine teams took part in a recent tournament to mark the great Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Fitr.
There was a particular buzz because the tournament coincided with the World Cup. The game was punctuated by excited chatter about the last matches in Russia and many wore shirts from their favorite teams, from Argentina to Germany.
Football can offer a welcome respite hard reality | AFP
Some expressed the hope that a Rohingya team could one day compete in the most prestigious football tournament of the year. world – an unlikely dream for an ethnic group that makes
Malaysia with a relatively rich Muslim majority has long ignored the influx of Rohingya.
Although they are not officially allowed to work, they have become a source of cheap labor in And even though life is better than in Myanmar, it is not a good place to work. coming out of Malaysia can be difficult for Rohingyas, who do not have access to basic services such as education and health [19659017] Horrible past
In 2015, the Rohingya Football Club ( RFC) was created to give members something constructive to do during their free time, and provide some liberation from unsatisfied and unsatisfactory existences.
through
The Eid's three-day tournament gives young men most of the time something positive about which they can focus at a time when they may lack members of their family and dark memories, say the organizers.
In 2015, the Rohingya Football Club (RFC) was created to offer members something constructive to do in their free time | AFP
RFC Secretary, Mohammed Faruk, stated that it was common for the Rohingyas to experience traumatic experiences, such as military repression in their country. Members of the minority in large refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh
"Many Rohingyas lost their parents, who lost their siblings, who lost their homes," AFP told AFP. # 39; AFP. "It's really awful when they think about their past."
Rakhine in western Myanmar, the state of origin of the Rohingyas, has been repeatedly shaken by inter-communal violence and the minority has often been the target of the army and Buddhists. ] "It eliminates discrimination"
Faruk wants to take a Rohingya team to the CONIFA World Football Cup, a biennial competition for teams put out by the official competition, which includes the sides representing minorities, isolated dependencies and cultural regions
Beyond the daily frustration, playing football has helped fight prejudice and break down barriers between Rohingya and the local population
"This eliminates discrimination", said Ishak, of the RFC. Many Malaysians through football.
The Rohingyas in Malaysia have had more reasons to be optimistic recently – an unexpected change of government during the May elections has brought a more sympathetic administration to their fate.
The new government is committed to its manifesto aimed at guaranteeing the "legal right to work" of refugees in the country, which – if honored – could help the Rohingya to find better opportunities the few low-paid sectors that are currently willing to hire them.
Mohammad Younus, a 44-Rohingya, who watched the tournament, was philosophical about the lack of current opportunities in Malaysia.
"Our country is already finished, here in Malaysia, young people do not have work either," he said, welcoming the power of football to help young refugees. [19659004Whentheyplay"atleasttheyhavesomethingpositiveinmind"
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