Almost one year after a wave of sectarian violence against the Muslim community broke out
in Rakhine state, in Western Burma, 140.000 displaced Rohingya are still caged in IDP
camps located in low-lying areas next to the sea, near the state capital, Sittwe.
The rainy season is approaching, spelling disaster for the Rohingya IDPs living in
appallingly precarious shelters. During the recent emergency caused by the approaching of
the cyclone Mahansen we witnessed how weak were the plans of evacuation set up by the
local authorities just few days before the storm was announced to hit the area.
Fortunately the cyclone lost virtually all its strength before hitting the coast of
Bangladesh, but after a year of living in the harshest condition, last week the displaced
families had a foretaste of what they will have to face in few weeks.
The lack of food and medical assistance is evident and the already abismal hygiene
conditions during the rains will worsen markedly. Given recent accusations from Human
Rights Watch that the government is involved in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the
Rohingya, the future weeks do not bode well for them.
This photo essay was made in May 2013 in the official and unofficial IDP camps near Sittwe.
All the babies in these photos were born in the IDP camps; as their parents, they are
stateless.
The government regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and does not
recognize them as Burmese citizen, despite the fact that most of them have been living in
Rakhine state for generations.
Vincenzo Floramo,
Was born in Trieste, Italy in 1968. After completing his studies at the Technical Industrial Institute, he began to live a nomadic life between Asia, South America, North America and Europe, which still continues. He has been committed to exploring, learning, connecting with and photographing the diverse expressions of human experiences that he encounters within these varied cultures.
In 2002 he worked as a photographers assistant at Uta Tabea Marten in Berlin, Germany and in 2004 he attended the Metropolis photography school in Madrid, Spain.
Recently he was present to a photojournalism workshop lead by the photographers Francesco Zizola and Lorenzo Maccotta in Italy.
For the last few years he has been spending most of his time in India and Thailand where he has become involved with several groups.
In Thailand he has spent extended periods of time living in the refugee camps, getting to know and photographing the Burmese there. With this project he collaborated with Amnesty Internationalâ??s magazine in Denmark, and exhibits his pictures in Barcelona and Madrid. In India he has become intimately involved with the customs, celebrations, institutions, and street life people of Varanasi.
He presently lives between Spain,Denmark and South East Asia.
