The Rohingya is a Muslim minority population living mainly in the state of Arakan in Myanmar. As a marginalised ethnic group, they have been subject to ethnic and religious persecution by the government. As a result, the Rohingyas have in many cases become ‘stateless’, fleeing Myanmar to seek refuge elsewhere. Since the 1980s, many have sought refuge in Malaysia. According to the UNHCR, of the more than 150,000 asylum seekers registered in Malaysia, Rohingyas account for more than 40,000.
Madrasah Hashimiah is a community school and boarding house for orphans and the poor from the refugee Rohingya community in Selayang, outside Kuala Lumpur. Founded in 1994 by a Muslim man from Myanmar, Ustaz al- Hafiz Hashim bin Kassimm, it began with three students and now has 170; nearly a third are orphans.
The school provides temporary shelter along with six full days of basic academic classes in mathematics, English, Malay and Myanmar, as well as religious classes such as Fardu Ain, Iqra and Tahfiz Koran.