A casual glance at Laila and Siti's instagram profiles wouldn't differentiate them from those of most other young women around the world. Beautifully filtered pictures of their artisan coffees, reels of their makeup tutorials and stories of their adventures around their city fill their feeds. But while social media is often criticised for creating an imaginary and unattainable lifestyle, that is precisely what Laila and Siti love about it.
For their entire lives, Laila and Siti have been invisible. The sisters are second generation Rohingya refugees who were born and raised in Malaysia, a country which does not recognise them or grant them any legal rights. Without any form of documentation, Laila and Siti do not exist. Not on paper anyway.
Their social media accounts are the only place the sisters have found to belong - a parallel reality where they can step out of the darkness into the light. A place without the label refugee and a space where they have control over how they are seen. When the sisters are not busy creating their virtual identities as beautiful, normal young women, they are figuring out how to survive in the real world.
The daily challenges of being illegal are unimaginable. Fear of being reported and detained by the authorities permeates every single aspect of their lives. With no right to work, they literally risk their lives every single day just to put food on the table. But for Laila and Siti, worse than the fear, is the feeling of invisibility.
#NoRightToExist is an intimate story of the struggle of two young women who represent a whole invisible population. Malaysia is not unique in the region. With nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar scattered throughout South and Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Pakistan do not recognise them as refugees either.
This work was developed in close collaboration with Laila and Siti. Together, they shared their thoughts and dreams and contributed art and writing. This work gives them a voice in the representation of their own identity and sheds light on a serious topic that is often unseen.
Laila and Siti exist here.
