Empowering Muslim Rohingya Youth Refugees: A Baseline Study of Literacy

In adult refugees’ context, functional literacy is the biggest barrier for the refugees to
socially navigate in the host community. Functional literacy is ‘the level of skill in
listening, speaking, reading and writing that any individual needs in order to cope
with adult life.’ Without functional literacy abilities in the language/s of the host
country and uncertainties in the journey to resettlement, the refugees tend to become
very vulnerable and traumatized. Thus, social navigation for survival becomes an
issue not only because they have language barriers but also internal conflicts on the
terrains of the imagined (the hopes) and the unexpected (the difficulties) they
encounter in the host country. Employing both qualitative and quantitative data
collection tools, this study explored the current English language literacy ability of
the Rohingya youth refugees and related challenges. Findings revealed that despite
the keen interests the participants have in acquiring English language proficiency,
the different alphabetical systems pose problems for them. Despite the challenges in
language, the participants exhibited strong sense of brotherhood with other fellow
refugees and willingness to extend assistance. Religion developed the powerful
bond. Based on the empirical data gathered, a Functional Literacy Course was
developed to address language issues embedded with Leadership as well as Islamic
Psycho-spiritual elements.