Collaborating with Adbullah, A.S Junike and Yasor, Pan also worked with critically acclaimed poet Ali Whitelock with support of publisher WestWords, a not-for-profit charity, to produce soul-stirring poems that reveal their stories of tragedy, hope, resilience and the beauty of the human spirit.
“We have faced all kinds of barriers and abuses of our human rights in our relatively short lives,” she said.
“But sometimes the smallest few words can make all the difference.
“We’re hoping these words will open eyes as well as hearts.”
The first Rohingyan Burmese women to compete in an Australian beauty pageant and becoming a Miss World finalist in 2020, Pan now works as the co-ordinator of Women’s Affairs and Youth Empowerment with the Free Rohingya Coalition.
“Over 10,000 Rohingya refugees are living in Australia, mostly in Lakemba and Bankstown, but even after seven or eight years are still on bridging visas and can only work as sole traders,” she said.
“They can’t go home and we are trying to get the Government to expedite their visa process so they can settle and thrive in their new home; we really need a solution.”
The book is available for $15 from westwords.com.au and selected bookstores.
Hope poems will open eyes
LISTENING to the stories of her ‘brothers and sisters’ in refugee camps, Rohingya-born Yagoona resident Pan Sandar Myint is always seeking ways to advocate for them and has now joined forces with three young men in a Bangladeshi camp to produce a powerful collection of poetry, ‘Today, Tomorrow, Forever being Rohingya’, in the hope of inspiring others.