Umme Habiba

Saleha Akter Urmi; [Facilitator]

Me and my burka (embroidery)

Fultola (embroidery)

Embroidery (EMB)

Decorative

They drew and embroidered burka that they wear daily. During her life in Myanmar, Umme Habiba didn’t wear a burka because she was a young girl. She began to wear a burka after arriving in the refugee camp. When girls in the Rohingya community turn 14 or 15 years old, they are required to wear the burka.

Burka are an essential part of the dress attire for Rohingya women as they never leave their house without it. Teenage girls first start wearing the burka when they are 13 or 14 years old and women find it very useful as they can just wear it instead of having to change clothes when going outside. The community finds it wrong for females to be seen in public without wearing the burka and it is sinful if men can see their face or parts of their body, the punishment for which can be passed on to their children. Rohingya women appreciate the differently designed burka available in Bangladesh, something that was not common in Myanmar.