Maung Day, To the Other Side of the Bay

In April 2022 – almost a year after a series of wars broke out between the Arakan Army and the Bamar Military in the area, Burmese artist Maung Day took a trip to Arakan Land. On this trip through Sittwe, Mrauk-U and other small Arakanese towns, he brought along a drawing book, into which he sketched out the sights of his journey. Upon returning home, he redrew many of these sketches.

Of this drawing, Maung Day writes:
"Over the past several years a lot of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh and other parts of the coastal line within Myanmar’s border. Some of them got to the shore especially in Bangladesh, while others were lost at sea, their boats sunk by the storms. Until today the news of drowned bodies shoring up on local beaches pops up from time to time, mostly due to the increased rate of Rohingya trafficking. I learnt that local traffickers promise to take the Rohingya who agree to pay a large amount of money to them to other parts of the coast, so they can start their lives somewhere safer and freer but still remains in Myanmar. But these journeys usually end up with the Rohingya being left at a random place along the coast. Then they get arrested by either the Bamar military or the police or the local community, and put into prison. Oftentimes, the traffickers leave the Rohingya at sea. The boats get lost and are sunk by the storms."