The story of Safira and Ali: Two unaccompanied children holding each other tight

By Kinanti Pinta Karana 

Safira, 8, at a temporary shelter for Myanmar Rohingya refugees in Kuala Cangkoy, North Aceh. She is one of more than 345 unaccompanied children in the refugee shelter who were part of a group of refugees that arrived in North Aceh on 10 May, 2015. (©UNICEFIndonesia/2015/Kinanti Pinta Karana). 

Kuala Cangkoy, Aceh province, INDONESIA - A field of dry grass greets me as I arrive at the fish port in Kuala Cangkoy, where 576 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar found temporary shelter after being rescued from the boat that also carried a group of Bangladeshi migrants off the Aceh waters on May 10.

Next to the tents and some medium-sized buildings, a number of cows roam the field, some gauge the trash pile looking for food.

On my way to a hall that has been converted into a sleeping quarter for male refugees I have to be careful, trying not to step on cow dung. The hall is empty because the male occupants are preparing for Friday prayer.

And then I hear a child’s laughter. I turn around and see a little girl putting biscuits on the face of a boy who is sleeping next to her.

Her name is Safira (names changed). She is eight years old and a world away from the life she deserves. The little boy is her brother Ali. He is 10.

The Rohingya Sisters: Leaving Home for a Better Future

By Kinanti Pinta Karana 

From left to right: Seemal*, 13; Alma*, 14 and Mira*, 15. The three Rohingya sisters were put on a boat by their parents to save them from rape and other forms of injustice in their home country. They currently stay in Kuala Langsa temporary shelter in East Aceh, where the photo was taken. (© UNICEF Indonesia / 2015 / Kinanti Pinta Karana)

Langsa, INDONESIA, 25 May 2015 - It is almost midday when I finally arrive at the compound in Langsa that has become a temporary home for some of the refugees and migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh. Between 10 and 20 May, a total of 1,829 boat people from the two countries have managed to reach the shores of Aceh and North Sumatra provinces, in West Indonesia. Among them are 599 children, including 345 unaccompanied minors.

They braved the perilous sea journey from their respective home countries some of them fleeing persecution and discrimination, others to escape poverty. Many more are still stranded at sea.

As I make my way into the women’s and children’s barrack, I see three adolescent girls clinging together in one corner of the room. I smile at them and they shyly smile back. Only later I realize how precious that smile was, considering the ordeal they had gone through at sea.

“My name is Mira*, I am 15 years old. These are my sisters Alma* who is 14, and Seemal*. She is 13,” the oldest girl explains.