Abul Kalam

Co-Secretary

Abul Kalam was born in a small village called Tula Toli (Min Gyi), located just north of Maungdaw Township in Arakan, Burma. His father was a farmer and landlord in Arakan.

The Burmese government confiscated their lands and established a village called Natala village, settling Buddhists from Bangladesh and central Burma in 1978. He and his parents were forced to flee Burma to Bangladesh during the Nagamin operation against the Rohingya in 1978. He and his family were then forcibly repatriated to Burma due to international pressure.

In 1982, their last land was confiscated by the Burmese authorities, and this landmark was handed over to the Rakhine Buddhists. That same year, he and his family became stateless due to the 1982 citizenship law. In 1984, he and his family became refugees for the second time, and this time he fled to Pakistan with his parents. He completed his higher secondary education in Pakistan.  Kalam was an active member of the United Student Organisation of Arakan-Burma, called “Ittihad-al-Tullabil Muslimin (ITM). He worked for ITM for a long time during his stay in Pakistan. He was forced to flee Pakistan because of his ethnicity and illegal immigrant status, and came to Sweden early in 2002.

Kalam is a Swedish citizen and Chairman of The Swedish Rohingya Association (SRA). SRA is an ideal, non-religious, non-party-affiliated, and non-profit organisation. https://www.rohingya.se

Abul Kalam is a registered nurse and a member of The Swedish National Association for Social and Mental Health, https://www.rsmh.se

Abul Kalam is a co-founder and Council member of The European Rohingya Council (ERC). ERC is a non-governmental organisation that works to realise the community’s aspirations for the benefit of the Rohingya community in Arakan State, Burma (Myanmar), and specifically in Europe, as well as Rohingya worldwide. For more details, visit www.theerc.eu. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife, two sons, and one daughter.

Since September 2017, he has visited the Rohingya refugee camp multiple times. His wife hails from South Chilkhali village, located in Rathedaung Township of Arakan, Burma. Sadly, both villages were heavily affected and completely destroyed; many men, women, children, elders, and countless newborn babies were slaughtered by the Burmese army, security forces, and Buddhist extremists. Afterwards, all the bodies were burned and thrown into the water.

At least 500 Rohingya were massacred in his village. He lost at least 38 close relatives from his family. This horrific situation compelled him to gather comprehensive information, especially since the UN International Fact-Finding Mission has concluded that the Myanmar military committed genocide against the Rohingya. He is the author of a booklet titled “We Want Justice by ICC”, which includes a short biography of orphans from Tula Toli (Min Gyi) village. These orphans lost their parents and other family members during the Myanmar Army’s crackdown on the Rohingya on August 30, 2017.

Kalam organised many seminars, conferences, and manifestations to focus on the Rohingya crisis. He travelled to different countries to attend seminars, conferences, manifestations, and activities related to Rohingya issues. For more details, click on the link, https://rohingya.se/our-team.