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Review

‘This book paints a deep, complicated and appalling picture: of one million people who have fled danger but now face immense risks from those they thought would protect them. While documenting the harm done by the UN and the Bangladeshi state, Ahmed humanises those normally dehumanised—the refugees.’ — Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian 

Rohingya men, women and children have been fleeing their homes for forty years. The tipping point came in August 2017, when almost 700,000 were wrung from Myanmar in a single military operation. Today, very few members of this Muslim minority remain in the country. Instead, they live mostly in Bangladesh’s refugee camps; or precariously in Malaysia, India, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

With the Rohingya almost entirely in exile, I Feel No Peace is the first book-length exploration of their lives abroad, drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews and long-standing relationships within the diaspora. Kaamil Ahmed speaks to the families of snatched children, and people kidnapped to feed the human trafficking nourished by Rohingya suffering. Most disturbingly, he reveals the complicity of NGOs and the UN in the refugees’ plight.

But Ahmed also uncovers resilience and hope; stories of how a scattered community survives. The lives uncovered in I Feel No Peace are complex, heart-breaking and unforgettable.