Rohingyatographer: Sharing the Rohingya story in photos

In 2017, photographers Ro Yassin Abdumonab, Ishrat Bibi, and Sahat Zia Hero were among 700,000 other Rohingya people who fled targeted campaigns of violence launched by the Myanmar military in Rakhine state, southwest Myanmar.

Since then, these three photographers have documented their daily lives in the world’s largest refugee camp—in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh—where Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides medical care to the Rohingya. Seven years after their exile, they continue to witness and document the desperate living conditions this Muslim minority group faces in Cox’s Bazar through Rohingyatographer, a collective of Rohingya photographers that collaborated with MSF to tell this story in photos.

Muhammad, who is learning Arabic, does his homework in Cox’s Bazar.

Sadeka, 18, is an orphan grappling with the hardships of life in the camps with the support of her older sister.

A young Rohingya woman in a purple scarf. — Bangladesh 2023 © Sahat Zia Hero

Rohingya refugees meet up and talk in the streets of the camps of Cox's Bazar.

Aziz digs in a canal to improve drainage near his shelter.

Zahida lives alone with her child in one of the camps in Cox's Bazar after her husband abandoned them.

Rohingya refugee Zahida lives alone with her child in one of the camps after her husband abandoned them. — A Rohingya refugee in Cox's Bazar. More than 300,000 people have fled renewed violence this year. | Bangladesh 2023 © Sahat Zia Hero

Abul, a volunteer NGO worker and father of four, rises early to get ready for work. With cases of dengue fever on the rise in the camps, he encourages his family to take precautions by using mosquito nets.

A Rohingya man behind a blue mosquito net in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

A Rohingya girl wearing face paint and a straw hat.

A Rohingya girl holding a drawing over her face.

Left: Asofa, a Rohingya girl, poses in a traditional outfit. © Sahat Zia Hero Right: Sawmira, 12, holds up one of her drawings. © Ishrat Bibi

Nur Mohammad, 79, crafts chicken coops out of bamboo. A former soldier, he struggles to earn enough money to make up for inadequate food rations and feed his family of six.