Displaced Muslim kids flock to Myanmar madrassa

By Esther Htusan

November 21, 2013

A year after Buddhist mobs forced almost all members of the minority Rohingya Muslim community from this northwestern Myanmar city, creating a state-sanctioned sectarian divide, thousands of children while away their long, empty days in dusty displacement camps. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa on the outskirts of Sittwe has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a Muslim boy learns the Quran by rote at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. AP

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a Muslim boy learns the Quran by rote at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a Muslim boy learns the Quran by rote at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a volunteer teacher prepares to lash a child with a cane during teaching at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. With almost no outside support, the staff are all unpaid. And due to a shortage of textbooks, they struggle to get across even the basics. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, young Muslim girls learn the Quran by rote as another peeps in from a widow at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a voluntary teacher stands next to a window at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Inside the dilapidated building, the boys and girls are tightly packed on the well-worn, wooden floor. A teacher patrols the room with a bamboo cane, occasionally smacking the floor, as he tries to keep noise levels down. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a teacher stands close to a window as Muslim children, majority of them displaced following last year’s sectarian violence, learn the Quran by rote at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. A year after Buddhist mobs forced almost all members of the minority Rohingya Muslim community from this northwestern Myanmar city, creating a state-sanctioned sectarian divide, thousands of children while away their long, empty days in dusty displacement camps. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a Muslim child learn the Quran by rotes at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a Muslim boy walks with a Quran in his hand at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, Muslim girls look out of a widow at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a Muslim boy beats a piece of metal with another indicating conclusion of studies for a group of students at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, a group of Muslim children wait for their turn for classes outside Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Sept. 18, 2013 photo, Muslim girls walk home after studying at Rohingya Village Madrassa in The’ Chaung Village on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Because Rohingya children are no longer welcome in many government schools, the so-called Rohingya Village Madrassa has opened its doors to some of those boys and girls, teaching not just Islamic studies, as it did in the past, but Burmese and English. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Source : AP