They said till now
More than 10,000 had perished
Washed to the shores
Greece, Italy, Libya and others
Also those
Had not been found
Their names not known
Little Aylan Kurdi from Syria
Amongst them
Yes, almost all of them
Were Muslims

Strasbourg
Wait. There are more!
What about these people?
Abd. Kareem, Fatimah and Hanafi
And more Rakhine people
Perished in the Andaman Sea?
They didn’t run
From their ancestor’s land of Arakan
But their homes burnt
Killed and chased from their own land

Apparently
They are not Myanmar
They are immigrants
Because they are Muslims
They are different
From Buddha our religion
That’s why Rakhine has no right
On the soil of Myanmar
That’s what
Those in power and holding guns said

But wasn’t it
More than 400 years
Arakan was their home?
They had representatives in parliament
Community leaders
Also political parties
How could they say
Rakhinenot  Myanmar?

Strasbourg!
Don’t forget the sufferings of Rakhine
Don’t forget they are being exterminated

Genocide is happening there
Genocide is happening there
In many Muslim lands
Genocide happened in many ways
Many forms

Genocide is happening everywhere!
Genocide is happening everywhere!
       Prague-Belgrade-Istanbul , August 2016

Siti Ruqaiyah Hashim is a Malaysian author whose poems and short stories have been published in literature magazines since 1987.  She is also a prolific film and theatre critic, and has published a collection of film essays  and bi-lingual poetry  titled ‘Katharsis’/Catharsis in English and Bahasa Melayu, translated into  Spanish. Her bi-lingual anthology, together with 12 other world peace poets and  titled News From Strasbourg, was published in 2017 and a  second anthology, together with 16 other world poets and titled  Peace Be Upon You Davos, was published in Croatia recently. Her poems have been translated into many languages. She is an Associate Author of Diogen, Pro Cultural Magazine and writes in many international magazines.