For the First Time, A Rohingya Refugee Is Able To Build A Permanent Home

“I was an orang kosong,” said Karim Mohammad Shafie.

Orang kosong is the term many Rohingya use to describe themselves due to their status as a stateless person. From Malay, it directly translates into empty person. Shafie, originally from Myanmar, is one of those Rohingya. 

Arriving in Milwaukee as a refugee in 2017, Shafie has traveled a dramatic journey spanning multiple countries and decades. From Myanmar, to Thailand, to Malaysia and finally America, Shafie’s journey reflects the laborious process many Rohingya take to escape the ongoing conflict in Myanmar. 

With the help of the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin, a community center and Masjid set up in the summer of 2015, Shafie was able to find contact with interpreters and a small but growing community. The center started out as a small organization to help the growing Rohingya population in Milwaukee. Andrew Trumboll, one of the center’s founders estimates that roughly 4,000 Rohingya refugees live in the Milwaukee area making it the largest community of Rohingya in North America. 

“As a place to settle down, Milwaukee makes sense as a choice since there is already a community here and the rent is not terribly expensive compared to similarly sized cities,” said Trumboll. 

When looking at the BRWC, traces of its old inhabitants can be seen. Originally a Church run by the New Hmong Alliance, the BRWC bought the building in the spring of 2021. Markings from a cross can still be seen in one of the prayer halls. Since then, the BRWC is slowly turning it into a blooming center and Masjid offering a religious school for kids and services to better help incoming Rohingya settle into Milwaukee. 

Originally hailing from Myanmar, the Rohingya have faced decades of persecution due to ongoing conflict. The situation in Myanmar is incredibly complicated. Containing multiple insurgency groups drawn mostly along ethnic and religious lines. The battle for Myanmar has left the country in ruin. Following a military coup in Feburary of 2021 the situation has only gotten worse. 

The United Nations Commissioner For Refugees reports that as of March 2025, nearly 1.5 million refugees and asylum seekers have come from Myanmar and another 600,000 have been internally displaced. The UNHCR has also reported that 37% of those fleeing Myanmar are children making them the majority. 

Those that are able to flee settle in neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia before getting an opportunity to enter the United States.  

“I’d say at least 90% of the Rohingya that come here are illiterate. They don’t speak any English and can’t read or write. So we offer them translators and interpreter services,” said Trumbull. 

The struggle to speak English means that many Rohingya are locked into manual labor jobs. Parents have to rely on their kids and interpreters to get around understanding key things such as documents referring to their medical history, proof of residence or legal services. 

Shafie, 57, has two kids who both speak English and a wife who speaks limited English. 

“It’s hard. The United Nations offers classes on English before they move you, but at my age my head is already hard,” said Shafie. 

According to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, each family that gets resettled is assigned an officer that handles day to day tasks to help families build a home. For six months, an allowance is given and rent is paid for. In that time frame, there is an expectation that refugees begin looking for work and enrolling their children into schools. 

Shafie, who previously lived in Malaysia for over 20 years and whose two sons were born there, was able to enroll his kids into middle and high school free of charge for the first time due to the resettlement process. The majority of the Rohingya that settle in Milwaukee come from Malaysia, due to the United Nations presence in Kuala Lumpur. Despite Shafie’s first son being born in Malaysia, he was rendered stateless automatically due to Shafie’s status as stateless. Because of this, Shafie’s son was unable to attend school. 

Shafie explained that in Malaysia, if one is rendered stateless, the government will see no obligation to give the child an education. Families that wish to enroll their kids may pay their way through a private school or a national government school who accept payments on a month to month basis. 

“It was hard. I wanted to enroll him, but the fee was a third of my monthly wage, sometimes half. Some months he would go to school and some months he could not,” said Shafie. 

“My son had trouble keeping up because of this.” 

In a 2021 press release, the Malaysian Bar urged the Ministry of Education in Malaysia to reconsider their policy on stateless children arguing that access to education is a basic right for all children. The Malaysian MOE has yet to issue any reform. 

Education is not the only obstacle. Stateless persons in Malaysia can be subject to harsh labor practices as there are no laws protecting them due to their stateless status. 

“Most of the people are nice. I’d say out of 100 there are 10 that are really dangerous. I was lucky enough to find a job cutting chicken where my boss left me alone but there were some incidents,” said Shafie. 

After the first year of settling in Malaysia, Shafie had used the money he had saved from his job on a moped. One night, when Shafie was done with work he had planned to grab some food before heading home. He suddenly was confronted with a group of men who he claims threw him and his belongings on the group before shouting derogatory remarks. They rode off. He walked the rest of the way home that night. 

“In that situation you can’t go to the police. If they find out you have no identification card, they can throw you away to a camp or worse, they’ll kick you out of the country. It’s best to just keep quiet.” 

Shafie is referring to camps located across the west Malaysian coast. The Human Rights Watch has made accusations of abuse and torture at the Malaysian government for the conditions of these camps. The worst offenses include physical abuse, withholding food and water and forcing hundreds into small unhygienic rooms. The Malaysian government has denied HRW and the UNHCR close access to these camps, so they rely on testimony from individuals who have escaped and anonymous employees. When Shafie was asked about these camps, he explained that he only knew a couple of people who had been thrown into these camps, mostly other workers.

Despite poor conditions, Shafie said that Malaysia still held a soft spot for him. 

“I would like to visit someday, since I stayed in Malaysia for so long I miss it sometimes. But here I’m not scared. People are nice and I can do real work,” said Shafie. 

Shafie now works as an Uber driver and volunteers at the BRWC handling day to day operations or sometimes as a religious teacher. 

“I have a younger boy in middle school. I didn’t have to pay anything. They took him in almost right away. I hope that when he grows up he doesn’t forget his religion and becomes someone smart,” said Shafie.