Rohingya Transgender Beautician Brings Diversity to Refugee Camp

TaiwanPlus News

Tanya, a transgender Rohingya refugee, is bringing diversity to the world's largest refugee camp. She fled Myanmar at 18 to escape the military's brutal crackdown on her Muslim ethnic group and has since become the camp's go-to beautician.

Transcript

00:01Inside the world's biggest refugee camp, one transgender woman is determined to

00:06break barriers. Through beauty, she's changing looks and lives. Tanya, a Rohingya

00:12refugee, is making a name for herself as the camp's go-to beautician. She fled

00:19Myanmar in 2017, escaping to Bangladesh among 750,000 Rohingya people, running

00:27from the military's bloody crackdown.

00:57In 2017, Myanmar's military launched a brutal crackdown on Tanya's people. A minority

01:03Muslim ethnic group long denied citizenship. As Rohingya villages were burned, hundreds

01:09of thousands fled, searching for a better future. Among them was the 18-year-old Tanya. Already

01:18an outcast in her community for being transgender, she faced even greater struggles.

01:24But Tanya never gave up. Using what she learned during a beauty internship, she convinced a Bangladeshi businessman to help her open a salon.

01:30Now, it's more than just a workplace. It's where she transforms others and inspires.

01:36It's where she transforms others. It's where she transforms others and inspires.

01:43I'm so proud of her. I'm so proud of the gentleman. It's great of a great

01:48contribution. And I'm so proud of the many people to play. I was very proud of the

01:51important part of the work. I was such a proud of my brother. I know I didn't even want to

01:55tell you to be a part of my brother. I didn't want to tell you that I've ever been

01:57in a country since I left a country business. You're my brother. I took the

02:06Every day, Tanya continues to push her community to break free from begging.

02:23She believes by setting examples of hard work, society will see them as equals.

02:29Scott Huang and Zalan Shata for Taiwan Plus.

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