Two young men cycling from Rochdale to London to raise money for Rohingya refugees

Human Aid volunteers, Abdul Khalik and Dewan Choudhury

Two young men are aiming to raise £2,000 for charity by cycling from Rochdale to London this weekend.

Human Aid Manchester volunteers Abdul Khalik, 24, and Dewan Choudhury, 24, both of Wardleworth, Rochdale, set themselves the challenge to raise urgent funds for the Rohingya Muslim refugees, despite never having ridden a bicycle on the roads before.

Abdul said: “We believe the Rohingya are the most persecuted people on earth and the whole world has forgotten about them. There are many children who have been traumatised and seen things that a child should never have seen at their age and there are many women who have suffered sexual violence. We believe this is our duty to ensure we do our upmost best for these people and to show them that we have not forgotten about them. 

“These people have no access to basic medical needs. Human Aid UK plan to build a wellbeing centre to bring hope to these people's lives again and get them back on their feet with physiological and medical support. This project will cost us £1million pounds.”

The duo have been training by cycling 100 miles each week to places such as Burnley, Accrington, Bacup, Heaton Park and Oldham.

Abdul and Dewan plan to split the journey into four days, cycling to Stoke on Trent on the first day, Birmingham on the second, Oxford on the third before reaching London on the final day.

They added: “Our main priority is to get the funds in for the Rohingya, but we have never challenged ourselves like this ever before. If anything, this is our personal challenge. We are scared and nervous but very excited as this will be a ride to remember for the rest of our lives.”

The Rohingya refugees

Over 300,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled their homes in Myanmar (formerly Burma), with huge numbers crossing the border to Bangladesh, where refugee camps are full, and tens of thousands are trapped on hillsides without access to food, water or medicine.

Many Rohingya say that Burmese government security forces have torched their villages and killed civilians.

In 2013, the minority group - who make up 1.1 million of the South East Asian country’s 53 million population, but who are not recognised as full citizens - was described by the United Nations as 'one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.' The upsurge in violence perpetrated by the Burmese army against the minority group has been likened by the UN as ‘ethnic cleansing.’

To donate, visit:

https://www.muslimgiving.org/rise4rohingyaAK