Saifullah Muhammad

Expert Overview

Saifullah Muhammad is an expert on issues of Rohingya human rights, refugees, persecuted minorities

Saifullah Muhammad is a young Rohingya human rights activist who spent much of his life advocating for refugees and persecuted minorities. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Waterloo.

Saifullah was born in a coastal village by the Mayu River in Myanmar, a community of Rohingya fishermen and subsistence farmers. Like much of his family, Saifullah was rendered stateless from birth and raised in a large yet barely known refugee camp in Bangladesh. Now residing in Kitchener, Saifullah has called southwest Ontario home since 2016. He graduated with distinctions from the journalism program at Conestoga College, earning a place on the Dean’s Honour list.

Saifullah has the distinction of being the very first Rohingya to be professionally trained as a journalist. As someone who understands the value of education he is working on some educational projects with different universities and colleges of Canada for scholarships and innovative online education programs for refugee youths.

Saifullah’s unique background as a refugee advocate, a professional journalist and a peace and conflict studies student and dedication to public service has inspired to many institutions, organizations and individuals to invite him to speak in various events including United Nations and he has been awarded “The Most Dedicated Journalist of the Year” by Waterloo Region Record in 2019.