Rohingya Historical Archive Pilot Report

Report by Aseera Shamin, National University of Singapore

The Rohingya are not just the victims of a military genocide. They are active victims of a cultural genocide as well. There is a brutal ongoing campaign of erasing all aspects of Rohingya culture and history connected to their ancestral homeland and their civic participation in Burma since its independence. As part of its effort to protect the few remaining pieces of Rohingya ancestry, the Rohingya Project has launched the R-Archive.

The R-Archive is a digital repository of documents of historical value to the Rohingya people. These include passports and other identity documents, school certificates, old photographs, civil service certificates and others. In the pilot phase of the R-Archive beginning in 2021, documents were collected and scanned from diaspora communities in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Rather than be at risk of being lost or destroyed, the records of these documents were then stored on the blockchain-based immutable archival system.

We thanks all of our partners and sponsors for helping us in the creation of this vital resource for the Rohingya People. Please see the attached report on the pilot phase of our R-Archive and our plans for its expansion.

Acknowledgements

The Rohingya Project would like to thank the hard work and contributions of the below during the pilot process of the R-Archive:

Dr. Anne Gilliland, Director, Center for Information as Evidence, UCLA

Dr. James Lowry, Director, Archival Technologies Laboratories, SUNY

Mr Philipp Koethe, Blockchain Architect, Datarella

Mr Ajmeer Omar, Field Officer, Rohingya Project

Mr Mukthar Mohammad, Field Officer, Rohingya Project

Mr Osmun Bin Hakim, Field Officer, Rohingya Project