A review by scribepub
First, They Erased Our Name: a Rohingya Speaks by Habiburahman, Sophie Ansel
This is my chance to speak for my people, who continue to suffer, but who are voiceless.
The Guardian
More than 688,000 Rohingya fled western Burma since August 2017, at the launch of punitive operations, a sweep of violence without precedent. Habiburahman, though, left the zone well before this happened — 18 years ago. He passed through Thailand and Malaysia, was stopped by a fishing boat, then tried to reach Australia by sea, getting as far as the Christmas Islands. After two and a half years in Australian detention centers, he was released at the end of 2012.
Le Monde
Habiburahman without doubt presents an unambiguous view of the Burmese situation … But there is little evidence from the Rangoon government to seriously deny it.
L’EXPRESS
The gripping, chilling inside story of the incubation of a genocide ... Habib’s moving family history emerges as a powerful and, to my knowledge, unique historical document. His compelling storytelling relates how playground prejudice against the Muslim Rohingya of Arakan escalated into pogroms, terror, and apartheid ... Incredible.
Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News
The book is written in simple language and tells the story without embellishment. There is no need for flourishes; it is relentless.
Gay Alcorn, The Guardian
The greatest barriers to stories such as Habiburahman’s being heard, though. Are invalidation and indifference. Do not be indifferent to this urgent, humane book. Read it, share it, talk about what has been happening — and in so doing safeguard the humanity of Habiburahman, the Rohingya and all asylum seekers, as well as the imperilled humanity of this country.
Maria Takolander, The Saturday Paper
[First, They Erased Our Name] tells the first-hand truth behind the global humanitarian crisis.
Business Standard
For the first time, Habib’s book gives written voice to the history of fate and his people who have been left stateless in their own country. Habib’s own story is an odyssey of danger, resistance, torture and courage.
James Taylor, Surf Coast Times
Compelling. FOUR STARS
Robyn Douglass, SA Weekend
The Guardian
More than 688,000 Rohingya fled western Burma since August 2017, at the launch of punitive operations, a sweep of violence without precedent. Habiburahman, though, left the zone well before this happened — 18 years ago. He passed through Thailand and Malaysia, was stopped by a fishing boat, then tried to reach Australia by sea, getting as far as the Christmas Islands. After two and a half years in Australian detention centers, he was released at the end of 2012.
Le Monde
Habiburahman without doubt presents an unambiguous view of the Burmese situation … But there is little evidence from the Rangoon government to seriously deny it.
L’EXPRESS
The gripping, chilling inside story of the incubation of a genocide ... Habib’s moving family history emerges as a powerful and, to my knowledge, unique historical document. His compelling storytelling relates how playground prejudice against the Muslim Rohingya of Arakan escalated into pogroms, terror, and apartheid ... Incredible.
Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News
The book is written in simple language and tells the story without embellishment. There is no need for flourishes; it is relentless.
Gay Alcorn, The Guardian
The greatest barriers to stories such as Habiburahman’s being heard, though. Are invalidation and indifference. Do not be indifferent to this urgent, humane book. Read it, share it, talk about what has been happening — and in so doing safeguard the humanity of Habiburahman, the Rohingya and all asylum seekers, as well as the imperilled humanity of this country.
Maria Takolander, The Saturday Paper
[First, They Erased Our Name] tells the first-hand truth behind the global humanitarian crisis.
Business Standard
For the first time, Habib’s book gives written voice to the history of fate and his people who have been left stateless in their own country. Habib’s own story is an odyssey of danger, resistance, torture and courage.
James Taylor, Surf Coast Times
Compelling. FOUR STARS
Robyn Douglass, SA Weekend