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Rohingya people in Pakistan ( ur, ) are a community based in
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
,
Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. They are
Rohingya The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
( ur, ), an ethnic group native to
Rakhine State Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady R ...
,
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
(also known as Arakan, Burma), who have fled their homeland because of the
persecution of Muslims The persecution of Muslims has been recorded throughout the history of Islam, beginning with its founding by Muhammad in the 7th century. In the early days of Islam in Mecca, pre-Islamic Arabia, the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse ...
by the Burmese government and
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
majority. According to varied Pakistani government sources and the Arakan Historical Society, there are some 200,000 Rohingya refugees residing in Pakistan. All of them have made a perilous journey across
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
and
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and have settled in
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
. A report on human trafficking stated that Burmese people make up fourteen percent of Karachi's undocumented immigrants. Large scale
Rohingya The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
migration to Karachi made
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
one of the largest population centres of Rohingyas in the world after Myanmar. In the recent years, scores of Burmese women seeking employment have entered the country. Different resources cite the number of these women to be in the thousands.


Rohingyas and Bengalis in Karachi

According to community leaders and social scientists, there are over 1.6 million Bengalis and up to 400,000 Rohingyas living in Karachi. There are numerous Burmese housing colonies that can be found throughout Karachi. Traditionally, cultural similarities of the Rohingya people to those of
Bengalis Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the ...
has enabled easier communication and interaction of the Burmese in Karachi with the Bengali community. Their native
Rohingya language Rohingya (), also known as Ruáingga ( Hanifi Rohingya: ; ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Rohingya people of Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Bengali–Assamese branch, and is closely r ...
furthermore has dialect familiarities especially with the Bangladeshi natives hailing from
Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
, who speak a somewhat indistinct
Chittagonian language Chittagonian ( ''saṭgãia'' or ''siʈaiŋga'') is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Chittagong Division in Bangladesh. Its speakers identify with Bengali culture and the Bengali language, but Chittagonian and Bengali are not mut ...
. As a result of the great inter-ethnic engagement, the Burmese people in Pakistan have a special reputation for being found in areas only that traditionally also contain a Bengali population. With more stringent control and difficulty in traversing borders the Burmese have now started travelling east to countries closer to Myanmar such as Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Malaysia. The number of Rohingya Burmese in Pakistan has been on the decline in recent years.


Notable people

*
Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi ( ar, عطالله أبو عمار جنوني) is the leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Rohingya insurgent group active in northern Rakhine State. Ataullah appears in several videos released online b ...
- Founder and leader of 
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), formerly known as Harakah al-Yaqin ( "faith movement" in English), is a Rohingya insurgent group active in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. According to a December 2016 report by the International Cr ...
(ARSA) *
Ashraf Tai Muhammad Ashraf Tai is a martial arts grandmaster, a Dan (rank), 10th degree Dan (Black Belt), the 2-time Afro-Asian Martial Arts Champion (1978-1979), the 9-time Pakistan Karate Champion, and one of the most famous Grandmaster (martial arts), ...
— pioneer of
Bando Bando ( my, ဗန်တို, ) is a defensive unarmed martial art from Myanmar. Bando is sometimes mistakenly used as a generic word for all Burmese martial arts, but it is only one martial art; Burmese fighting systems collectively are refe ...
karate in Pakistan.


See also

*
Burmee Colony The Burmee Colony (often referred to as Burmi Colony, Burma Colony) ( ur, برمی کالونی) () is one of the neighbourhoods of Landhi Subdivisions in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
, a Rohingya-majority neighbourhood in Karachi *
Pakistanis in Myanmar Pakistanis in Burma are a historical community living in Burma who trace their origins to Pakistan. This definition includes Pakistani nationals residing in Burma and Burmese citizens who have ancestral links to Pakistan. Their history predates ...
*
Bengalis in Pakistan Bengalis in Pakistan are ethnic Bengali people who are either citizens of Bangladesh or those originating in the Indian state of Bengal, who had lived in either West Pakistan or East Pakistan prior to 1971 or who migrated from Bangladesh afte ...


References


External links


The Rohingya in Pakistan - Refugee Resettlement Watch (Wordpress)

‘Govt has not done enough for us since our arrival in Pakistan’

Invisible Pakistanis: Neither here nor there
*
Rohingya Muslims who fled Burma decades ago did not escape persecution

The Rohingyas of Karachi

Pakistan Muslim Alliance starts reaching out to Bengali and Rohingya communities

Fishermen of Burmese origin maintain their identity

Identity issue haunts Karachi’s Rohingya population



Rohingyas of Karachi struggle to deal with identity crisis

‘All we can do now is pray’: Rohingya families in India, Pakistan despair as Myanmar crisis unfolds



The Rohingya of Pakistan
{{Immigration to Pakistan Ethnic groups in Pakistan
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
Immigration to Pakistan Muhajir communities Refugees in Pakistan
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...