"Here, we can't afford gifts and don't have good food... because this is not our country," Hashim told AFP on a barren hillside in Cox's Bazar district. Nearly 700,000 Rohingya fled the violence for Bangladesh, where they squat in bamboo and tarpaulin shacks on dirt slopes. While they acknowledge that they were lucky to escape, now, with food and money scarce and temperatures soaring, Ramadan looms as a source of anxiety for many Rohingya. But despite the hardship the Rohingya would not abandon their traditions, no matter how challenging their circumstances, said imam Muhammad Yusuf. "It will be difficult while the sun is so hot, but we will still fast," Yusuf told AFP.

Source: Bangkok Post May 16, 2018 05:37 UTC