AFTER receiving a phone call from his uncle promising him opportunity to study in Malaysia, Muhammad Syarif decided he would leave the camp set up for ethnic Rohingyas in Rakhine, Myanmar. The decision was a risky one. For starters, the Myanmar military has threatened to punish any Rohingya caught trying leave the shelter.

Syarif, a 16-year-old teacher of English and Quranic reading, can speak English, despite only having completed elementary sc