Using Soccer to Spread the Word About the Plight of the Rohingya

FP
OCTOBER 21, 2022

A team of Rohingya refugees forms a soccer club in Australia and becomes a beacon of hope.

Robi Alam is a Rohingya refugee. His family fled violence and persecution in Myanmar. A decade later, Alam was born in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. Life was hard in the camps, and Alam and his friends would wrap rubber bands around a wad of plastic bags and play soccer until the ball fell apart. When Alam was 10, his family emigrated to Australia, where many people have never even heard of the plight of the Rohingya. To help ease their transition, Alam and some of his fellow Rohingya started playing soccer again, informally at first in nearby parks. But their passion grew, and they formed an official club. They call themselves Rohingya United, and their goal is to raise awareness of the Rohingya issue. Now, there are Rohingya soccer teams scattered across Australia as well as in Canada, the United States, and other countries.

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