All it took was a social media post to turn this guy’s life into a living hell
Every so often, Cilisos gets emails from people wanting to share their stories. This time around, we got one that really stood out– the sender said his life was under threat and he’s desperate for any sort of help. We were intrigued to say the least, and made the trip all the way to his home to get a full account of what’s been going on.
He said he doesn’t even leave the house anymore cos of the harassment he’s been getting.
Now whether you believe his story or not is up to you, cos safe to say, this guy’s a pretty controversial figure in Malaysia. And for that reason, we’ll be keeping his identity under wraps till just about the end. Feel free to skip ahead if you wanna know who he is… tho we do hope you’ll just follow along with an open mind.
So have we got y’all hooked? Well sit back then, cos the root of this story actually goes all the way back to 1988, in a lil ol’ town called Buthidaung, Myanmar.
Fearing for his life, this guy bribed and begged his way to Malaysian shores
In the 80s, Myanmar was a hotbed of protests and cries for democracy. Among those protestors was a young 18-year-old who was desperate for change. But it didn’t end well for him and he was later arrested by the military junta. As y’all can imagine, he was tortured, and it left him with chipped teeth and scarred fingers that haven’t healed even to this day.
That line across his index finger is actually a dent, from being cut
But the officers were relentless and he knew he had to escape. So when the chance came, he fled with the help of his dad, who gave him his savings. He first made his way to Bangladesh, then India, and then Thailand. Despite the distance tho, he never really escaped the threat of his home country.
“I always had to watch the situation. If it became teruk or people start asking me many questions, I will move to another place.”
Deportation was always a risk whenever he encountered local authorities. It was either that or jail, and he ended up relying on bribery and begging to scrape by.
The approximate route of this guy’s journey. Image from Zoomnfly
By that point we were honestly wondering why he would go through all that trouble, only to end up locked away in foreign prisons. It sounded no better than his situation from before… But he assured us that it was.
“Anything was better than going back to Myanmar. I don’t care how many years they put me in prison– there (Myanmar), they will kill me.”
And things stayed that way until he smuggled himself across the Thailand-Malaysia border. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses tho, cos he did get caught for being an illegal immigrant and consequently spent some time in prison. But after his release, he was lucky enough to meet someone who helped him relocate to Klang, where he later got a job in a factory.
Once settled in Malaysia, he turned towards activism and started a family
Y’all would’ve heard of MERHROM, right? Hard not to when they’re always in the news… and that’s probably cos they’re one of the most prominent NGO reps for the largest group of refugees in Malaysia, the Rohingya.
And this guy was the one who started it.
A group of Rohingyans protesting against the genocide. Image from Astro Awani
MERHROM basically advocates for the rights of the local Rohingya community. Now, if you’ve ever been curious about the inner workings of a refugee club, this particular organization hosts ceramahs to help Rohingyans assimilate into Malaysian society.
“We talk about how to live here and duduk baik-baik, how to be friends with neighbours, how to respect the Malaysian laws and not cause problems to other people.”
And possibly due to this experience of having to play facilitator, he’s gotten pretty well-versed in Malaysian politics. Interestingly, he claims to have personally met every Malaysian PM except for 2– Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak. And while we didn’t have time to go through his entire photo album, we did find a pic of him with Tun M.
Gotta keep the mystery going, right?
And as things chugged along, he felt he was ready for the next step– marriage, and a family. Life as a refugee was a lonely one, and he was craving the intimacy of a personal relationship.
“Single life is no better. Single life is nothing. One time I had dengue, and I was in the hospital for 1 month. Nobody was there to care for me or help me. Now I have a family, there’s somebody to see me, talk to me.”
His wife is a local woman, and while she’s faced some stern backlash for marrying a foreign man, at the very least they had each other. But ofc, with every upswing, there’s a downswing, and this guy soon found himself in trouble again.
His family was dragged through the mud for something he allegedly did
You see, several years back, MERHROM came under fire for demanding equal rights for all Rohingyans in Malaysia, the rights of Malaysians, basically. And a number of Malaysians were upset about it, to the point they started sending him death threats.
It was perhaps the clutter in the guy’s home that caught our attention the most
The thing is, yes, a letter was penned regarding the discrimination faced by Rohingyans, particularly in their workplace. But it was mostly a letter of complaint rather than a letter of demand. As it grew tho, like any viral issue, a lot of stuff got taken out of context and the incident as a whole blew out of proportion.
Years later, the threats still haven’t subsided. Well they did, for a little while, but all it took was an FB post for things to reignite. Now, it’s not that we condone bullying but it would’ve been one thing if it was only him getting those threats, but we got a glimpse of some of them and they actually involve his wife and kids too. Guys, they’re honestly horrid.
Just know we had to blur the heck out of this cos they were basically sending him gore
And to make matters worse, he was also denied resettlement by UNHCR Malaysia— the organization that helps relocate refugees to other countries. And that meant he had no choice but to stay put and weather all that abuse. But we thought since he had a UNHCR card, he would be offered some form of protection.
This guy waited 8 years for his card
That wasn’t at all the case and a UNHCR card, in essence, really just means that the holder won’t be deported but he’s pretty much on his own.
“Under International Protection Mandate, having UNHCR card only means local government cannot send us back to Myanmar.”
Schade 😔 So where does this leave him now?
Despite becoming a recluse, he still advocates for Rohingyan rights through his writings
Remember that email we got at the beginning? That was in part what he does these days– writing press releases for the media. He can’t do more since he’s too afraid to step out of his home. He’s even pulled his kids from school cos they’ve been getting some pretty unsavoury comments from their classmates.
Another section of the house that was filled to the brim
Well, we guess we’ve kept you guys in suspense long enough, and you’re probably eager to find out who we’re talking about. Or maybe you’ve already pieced it together from the hints we’ve dropped. Well, this has been the story of Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, president of MERHROM and a Rohingyan refugee currently living in Malaysia.
This article isn’t meant to sway your opinion or anything, especially if you already know him. It’s just his side of the story from beginning to end, since there’s hardly any account of it online. So feel free to take it as you will, and as for our final parting words, we wish him and his family luck in their resettlement process.
