Rohingya man whose mother was abducted calls for refugee pathway to Canada - Action News
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Ottawa

Rohingya man whose mother was abducted calls for refugee pathway to Canada

With Myanmar plunging further into turmoil, advocates for the Rohingya people a Muslim ethnic minority living in a Buddhist majority country are calling on Canada to create a dedicated immigration pathway for Rohingya refugees.

Fewer than 1,000 refugees have made it to Canada, advocates say

Living in constant fear for his family, Rohingya man calls for more help for refugees

2 months ago
Duration 1:08
John Jonaid, a Muslim Rohingya man who left Myanmar in 2012, says he lives in constant fear for the family members he left behind. Hes calling for Canada to create an official immigration pathway for Rohingya refugees.

John Jonaidnever got the chance to see his family before he fled his home country in 2012.

He's not sure if he ever will again.

"I live in a constant fear and anxiety every day that anything could happen to my family [at] any time," he said.

Jonaid, originally from the Rakhine state of Myanmar, is a Muslim Rohingya a member of anethnic minority group in theBuddhist-majority countrythat has been left stateless there since 1982. He's one of close to a million Rohingya whofled their homesin Myanmar after decades of persecution and murder. Many have pouredinto highly congested and squalid refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh since a military-led crackdown in 2017.

Jonaidleft Myanmar for Canada five years ago. He is now a permanent resident living in Ottawa, watching events in his homeland with a growing sense of alarm.

"I dream for a better future, like everyone else," he said.

John Jonaid in his apartment in Ottawa.
John Jonaid in his apartment in Ottawa. Jonaid resettled in Canada in 2021 after making the perilous journey from Myanmar, where Rohingya people have been persecuted for decades. (Nicole Williams/CBC)

Mother abducted, held for ransom

In recent days, Myanmar's military has withdrawn from Jonaid'shome state and the rebel Arakan Army (AA), made of Rakhine nationalists, has advanced. There are reports of hundreds of Rohingya civilians being killed and homes being burned, Jonaid said.

Rohingyapeople in Myanmar face death every day, he saidincluding hisfamily members.

In June of this year, Jonaid said, members of the AA visited his mother's home in the middle of the night andabductedher.

He said theAA told his mother they were aware of her son'spublic statementsaboutthe Rohingya genocide and the insurgent group'sactionsin the region.

"I couldn't sleep that night," Jonaid recalled.

He said hisfather was able to negotiateher release a day later for a $3,000 ransomand a promise that Jonaid would keep silent.

JN Joniad, first in line, took part in several protests raising awareness for the plight of refugees, including one outside the UNHCR office in Makassar, Indonesia, in 2018.
John Joniad, first in line, took part in several protests to raise awareness of the plight of refugees, including one outside the UNHCR office in Makassar, Indonesia, in 2018. (Submitted by JN Jonaid)

"I should have stopped my [advocacy] work, my activities, otherwise my family life will be in danger," he said.

While his mother is no longer in captivity, Jonaid said, she is far from safety in Myanmar.

Jonaid said she has diabetes and can no longer travel freely to Bangladesh to access medication. He said she has had to smuggle herself into Bangladesh several times, facing the risk of arrestand being dropped back into Myanmar on the shores of the Naf River, which Jonaid described as a war zone.

He said his mother has since made her way back into Bangladesh,where she is currently in hiding.

"We will not be able to survive this time because there are no more Rohingya villages left and Rakhi Army state [is] killing everyone," said Jonaid's mother, 55-year-old Shaynaz Begum, in a video call from an undisclosed location,with her son translating.

"My home is burned down now. We don't have any home left in Myanmar. Coming to Canada will help me survive, live my life."

People in a row walk alongside the water holding bundles of their belongings. Their reflections are visible in the water.
Rohingya refugees are reflected in rain water along an embankment next to paddy fields after fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on November 2, 2017. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)

As the country continues to slidefurther into turmoil, those Rohingyastill in Myanmar or in refugee camps in neighbouring countries are desperate for humanitarianaid from the international community, including Canada.

The federal governmentlaunched a three-year strategy in 2018 to provide assistance in response to the crisis, and extendedit by another three years in 2021. But Ottawa has yet to name a replacement forBob Rae as special envoy to Myanmar.

CBC News asked Global Affairs Canada when it would name Rae's replacement but hasn't received an answer yet.

"Right now, there's uncertainty [about] whatCanada's role is."said John Packer, a law professor and director of the Human Rights Research and Educational Centreat the University of Ottawa.

"Canada has not clarified in its last budget is it contributing anything anymore? Does it have any intention of doing so?'

And the Rohingya in Myanmar have not benefited from the sort of mass refugee resettlement efforts Canada and other countries have offered to people fleeing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

Packer said there are "less than 1,000 Rohingya in all of Canada out of a population of three million."

A crowd of people in the foreground with flames and smoke rising above structures in the background.
A fire in a Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on March 22, 2021. This still image was obtained from a social media video. (Ro Yassin Abdumonab via Reuters)

"Normally, you have to make a claim of asylum in the first country you arrive in that offers you some protection. So getting to Canada is almost impossible for most Rohingya," he added.

Jonaid said that needs to change. He and other advocates arecalling on the federal government to create a dedicated immigration pathway to make it easier for Rohingya refugees to cometoCanada.

Without one, he said, too many of his people face being slaughtered.

"There [is] no support for Rohingyaon the ground. They are literally dying in this merciless land," he said.

In an emailed statement,Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada spokespersonMatthew Krupovichsaid the federal government "remains deeply concerned by the persecution of Rohingya communities in Myanmar."

He pointed to Canada's plans to resettle 12,000 people from Asia between 2024 and 2026, includingRohingya refugees.

Krupovich did not say how many Rohingyathe government expects to resettleor if Ottawa plansto createa dedicated pathway for those refugees.