Why We Speak: Help Spread Refugee Stories

The genocidal attacks on the Rohingya people of Myanmar began in August of 2017, and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of men, women and children. The United Nations estimates that approximately 700,000 people were forced to flee the country for safety, and many survivors still live in horrific conditions in camps in Bangladesh. At 3 Generations, we work to bring attention to the devastating effects of this ongoing refugee crisis, as well as support the lives and stories of refugees.

In our shirt film,A Refugee’s Journey, Imran Mohammad, detailed his personal 7 year journey, over 14,217 miles, across continents, that finally led him to make his home in Chicago, IL. His is a story of courage in the face of tragedy. At 3 Generations, we are thrilled to share the progress and achievements that Imran, a Rohingya refugee and member of our advisory board, shares with us as he celebrates his recent marriage.

“Thank you Azimah for choosing me as your life partner.I know you are a strong woman and your education in healthcare and passion for helping Rohingya women will be a blessing to our Rohingya community. I am blessed to have you as my wife. We have a long life ahead of us and I am sure we will grow together and become a strong voice for our people here in the U.S. and other places around the world.”

3 Generationscontinues to tell the stories of the plight of refugees around the world, making certain that their struggles are documented and borne witness to.

The Rohingya Genocide began in August of 2017. This year, in honor of the 5th anniversary of the Rohingya Genoicde, we caught up with Imran Mohammad.

The genocide attacks on the Rohingya people of Myanmar began 5 years ago today, and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of men, women and children. The United Nations estimates that approximately 700,000 people were forced to flee the country for safety, and many survivors still live in horrific conditions in camps in Bangladesh.

3 Generations believes that the refugee situation is a humanitarian crisis that demands a more humane response. We will continue to spread awareness about the plight of refugees and document their stories so that they can get the support and compassion that they deserve.

We are honored that Imran sat down with us to share an update on his life, his flourishing journalism career, and his activism in his community in Chicago. Below is a short excerpt from our conversation with Imran:

Links:

• Catching up with Imran Mohammad

The amount of forcibly displaced people has been rising steadily in the last ten years. In the first half of 2021, there were more than 84 million refugees worldwide. At 3 Generations, we work to bring attention to the devastating effects of this ongoing refugee crisis.

In 2021, ImranMohammad, a Rohingya refugee and member of our advisory board, was recognized for his dedication to student journalism and awarded the “In Depth Reporting” award from the Pulitzer Center. Imran is now a writer and activist and has reported on the Rohingya diaspora in the United States as well as writing his own personal account of his 7 year journey from Myanmar to Chicacgo.

In May 2022, Imran graduated from Truman College with an associate's degree in Political Science. Imran shared his immense joy with this heartfelt message:

“It has been a very emotional day and I still can’t believe that I have my associate's degree in my hand. There have been so many days when I cried thinking that I couldn’t do it.

I came to this nation after living in detention for more than seven years and have prioritized my education over everything. I didn’t have my family around me to cook a meal when I didn’t have any motivation and gave up invitations to do my homework. While most of my friends were having fun, I was doing my homework.

Holding my degree in my hand felt everything that I gave up was worth it.”

Here at 3 Generations, we were overjoyed and humbled by Imran’s story and are extremely impressed by all his achievements.In our short film about Imran, A Refugee’s Journey, he detailed his personal 7 year journey, over 14,217 miles, across continents, that finally brought him to Chicago. We wish Imran all the best in his continued journey and look forward to continuing to tell his story and support him in any way we can.

3 Generations believes that the refugee situation is a humanitarian crisis that demands a more humane response. We will continue to spread awareness about the plight of refugees and document their stories so that they can get the support and compassion that they deserve.

The amount of forcibly displaced people has been rising steadily in the last ten years. By the end of 2020 there were 82.4 million refugees worldwide. That’s a staggering 3 million increase from 2019. At 3 Generations we work to bring attention to the devastating effects of this ongoing refugee crisis.

在2021年,我们着重介绍了一些关于难民的故事s from Myanmar and Syria and the hardships that they faced. We finished editing the video testimony of Lamiya, a Yazidi refugee. In the video the ISIS survivor tells the harrowing account of her and her son’s enslavement by ISIS and how they managed to survive. Despite all of their pain and suffering they were able to continue to fight for survival because of their love for each other. Here is a link to ashort clipfrom it.

We also hosted a livestream on the anniversary of the beginning of the Yazidi genocide. Our founder Jane Wells spoke with Debbie Rose, founder of the charity Project Abraham in Canada, and Souriya Naso, a volunteer at Project Abraham. The discussion touched on the incredible amount of trauma that the Yazidi refugees had experienced and the difficulties of adjusting to life because of it. Here is a link toexcerpts from the livestream.

3 Generations believes that the refugee situation is a humanitarian crisis that demands a more humane response. We will continue to spread awareness about the plight of refugees and document their stories so that they can get the support and compassion that they deserve.

To learn more about this and our other issues please visit ourwebsite.

Links:

• Our Video for World Day for Migrants & Refugees

In August, we hosted a livestream on the anniversary of the beginning of the Yazidi genocide in Iraq by ISIS. 3 Generations had recorded the stories from some of the survivors of this genocide and wanted to take a deeper dive into this under reported tragedy.

In 2014, in the Northern Iraq town of Sinjar over 6,000 Yazidi women and children were kidnapped by members of the terrorist organization ISIS. Many older women, men and boys were killed on the spot. Younger women and children were processed and taken across the border to ISIS controlled sites, including slave markets, and training and indoctrination centers. Today over 3,000 women and girls are still missing.

In observance of the anniversary our Founder Jane Wells spoke with Debbie Rose, Founder of the charity Project Abraham in Canada, and Souriya Naso a volunteer at Project Abraham. Project Abraham has helped several hundred Yazidi women and children who were victims of ISIS reach safety in Canada. Souriya is a Yazidi who was born in Syria but whose family migrated to Canada during the Iraq War.

The discussion touched on the amount of trauma that the Yazidi refugees had experienced, the worst that Canadian experts had ever encountered. They also spoke about the lack of will at the UN to label what happened to the Yazidis a genocide and offer assistance to find the thousands of still missing Yazidi women and girls.

For more in depth information about the livestream and the Yazidi Genocide please read our blog postLet's not forget the Yazidi Genocide.

3 Generations will continue to document the stories of Yazidi refugees and shine a spotlight on the plight of the missing Yazidi women and girls. To learn more about this and any of our other issues please visit us at3generations.org.