Ro Maung Hla Myint (Arafat)
Photographer
Ro Maung Hla Myint (Arafat) is a Rohingya documentary photographer, storyteller , freelance photographer and the co-founder of RSUR. He was born in 1999 in Myint Hlut village, South Arakan in Maungdaw, Myanmar. He was forcibly forced to flee with his family to Bangladesh due to persecution, discrimination, and a violent crackdown by the Myanmar military in August 2017.
His journey was a hard and traumatic experience. We walked for days to escape the military through paddy fields and jungles to finally crossing the Bay of Bengal. The Rohingya community has faced extreme violence, rape, persecution, and many atrocities in their native country. They have been targeted for ethnic cleansing, mass killings, and the burning of their villages in Arakan State. Ultimately, more than one million Rohingya refugees, the majority children, women, and the elderly, crossed the border into Bangladesh.
For the last six years, he has been living with his family in world largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh.
In the camps, Arafat initially volunteered with Action Against Hunger and later collaborated with various organisations such as UNHCR, DRC, IOM, and Muslim Charity in roles encompassing team leader and protection counselling.
His photographic journey, spanning four years in the refugee camps, is driven by a mission to spotlight the Rohingya crisis through a photo-voice approach.
Arafat is a regular contributor to the
Rohingya Photo Competition, in which he earned significant recognition, including a second prize in 2023. His contributions to documentary photography provide a vital window into the lives of the Rohingya, echoing their resilience and the ongoing humanitarian challenges they face.
Arafat's photography is a powerful medium, capturing the life and struggles of the Rohingya refugees. 'My photographs are intended to bring the world's attention to our lives; let my images give you a perspective into our existence,' —he says.
His photos has been featured by prominent international outlets including The Guardian, Al Jazeera English, Amnesty International, Vice and others, please see below for a complete list:
International Leaning Moment UK
