OCCASIONALLY, I watch plays because of their popular titles, the cast or how prominent the directors are.
But, the play, We Are Human, staged at UiTM’s Dewan Sri Budiman recently, was different. What attracted me to it was the cast, who were refugees. No popular names, established actors or actresses, or prominent directors. Only Palestinians and Syrian refugees, some of them children.
The theme caught my curiosity, so I rallied two of my boys to accompany me. I said they needed to watch it to better understand the sufferings of children and their families in war-torn countries.
With some expectation, my boys and I arrived early at the hall. I was amazed to see the crowd, comprising mostly university students. Apparently, it was a sell-out and the organiser had to squeeze in additional chairs.
I was told the proceeds from the play went to the refugees.
We Are Human was staged by refugees from Syria, who are under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It was a heart-wrenching play.
It tells the journey of eight refugees — three mothers and their three children, and two teenagers — from Syria and Iraq. The play depicted their lives in their home country before the war, and shared their moments before leaving their homes to seek refuge in Malaysia. The play gave an insight into their lives in Malaysia. It’s their resoluteness that make these often-misunderstood refugees going.
It started with Mhd Omar Al-Khammash playing the oud (a stringed instrument played in Middle Eastern countries) with flashbacks of his life in Syria before the war — of him playing with friends and enjoying life. But, since the war started, he lost his good friends when hiking at one of the mountains in Syria. Omar has been professionally trained to play the oud since he was 10, and was part of the Syria Opera House. His family fled Syria two years ago.
Rahsha Mohamed Atlali is one of the refugees born in Iraq. She fled to Syria during the Iraq war before moving to Malaysia five years ago. The mother of two enjoys acting since her school days. She is actively coordinating activities for a refugee women group, Elham. Rasha has an 8-year-old daughter, Maryam, who was born a refugee in Syria. The family attend the Sahabat Support Centre here. Both enjoy acting in shows together. Maryam does not even know her birth country and did not have a childhood like most of us .
They shared their experiences, laughter and sufferings with the audience — these are true accounts shared for the first time in an experimental theatre setting. The presentation was heavily accompanied by classical Middle Eastern music and songs, and a visual backdrop.
Another refugee, Tagred Mahmud, is from Palestine, but lived in Syria most of her life. Tagred fled Syria with her husband and four children three years ago. An active member of Elham, Tagred sold her belongings in Syria to buy flight tickets for her and the family. At the airport before boarding the flight to Malaysia, they were robbed of their money and belongings by people who took advantage of their situation.
Syrian Rouid Alsayad, 11, and his family came to Malaysia two years ago. When he first stepped foot on Malaysian soil, he was elated. Unfortunately, life wasn’t easy for him as there were Malaysians who took advantage of him. He was hired illegally to wash dishes at a canteen of a public university and was earning a mere RM20 a day.
Their sufferings are beyond our imagination — only after watching the play were we able to understand what they had gone through. As the play progressed, I cannot help but count my blessings.
The play was a joint venture between UNCHR and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). Three faculties at UiTM were involved in the production — the Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Academy of Language Studies and Faculty of Film Theatre and Animation.
Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy dean Professor Dr Posiah Mohd Isa was responsible for bringing the play to UiTM. She first saw the play at Publika in Kuala Lumpur and felt it would be good to create awareness among students on the plight and sufferings of refugees. It was also to encourage students to volunteer in programmes that help refugees.
We Are Human should be staged at other universities so that students are aware of refugees’ plight. Perhaps, it should also be staged at Istana Budaya.
UNHCR works with government agencies and civil societies to protect refugees and assist in their welfare needs while they seek temporary asylum here.
UNHCR began its operations here in 1975, when Vietnamese refugees arrived by boat, providing protection and assistance for them with the help of the Malaysian government.
From 1975 to 1996, UNHCR resettled more than 240,000 Vietnamese to other countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, France, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. During that same period, more than 9,000 persons returned home to Vietnam with the support of UNHCR.
During the 1970s and 1980s, UNHCR assisted the government in receiving and locally settling more than 50,000 Filipino Muslims from Mindanao who fled to Sabah. UNHCR also supported the government to locally settle thousands of Muslim Chams from Cambodia in the 1980s and several hundred Bosnian refugees in the 1990s.
Although Malaysia is not a state party to the 1951 Convention and its Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, the government continues to cooperate with UNHCR to address refugee issues on humanitarian grounds.
Wan Norliza Wan Mustapha is a former Associate Professor at the Language of Academy studies, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam. She can be reach via wannorliza@gmail.com