Michael's

Along Thailand-Burma border, ‘Michael Right’ and Yameen ‘Michael Muhammad’, two Rohingyas have been struggling for their livelihood. At the same time they have attempted to maintain Rohingya’s identity which is perhaps never static. The two Michaels have the same ethnics but different economic status and background. The story takes place in the heart of Mae Sot and Umpiem Refugee camp. Yameen Michael’s perspectives of the long-term residents in Mae Sot whose growing cross-border businesses depend largely on their religious networks (Rohingya and Muslim), while Michael Right fled away from the Motherland for nineteen years, but now he has been still waiting for beginning his new life in somewhere. By juxtaposing two different lives, how the two stateless men have tried to seek ‘identity’ that others accept. Although both migrated since a long time ago, but did not belong to any place; State of Thailand or Myanmar. While citizenship brings one outside the fence, another one without citizenship tried to grab it all the time. Even the religious space that both of them are Rohingya Muslim, but the social capital is positioning them differently. Identity of diaspora are always been fractional and they are trying to negotiate with the situation in their everyday life.

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