A YEAR after fleeing Afghanistan to escape the threats of the Taliban, Saleh Sepas founded a refugee theatre group in Malaysia for fellow refugees to express their emotions.

Saleh, a writer and a former BBC radio director, said he started the refugee theatre group Parastoo because he wanted to help himself as a writer as well as assist the refugees.

Saleh, who landed in Malaysia in 2016 and started Parastoo in 2017, told The Malaysian Insight that he had to run away from the Taliban because he often talked about human rights and education.

“They targeted me and it got very serious where they took all my belongings and targeted my family,” he said.

Parastoo means bird – to resemble the life of refugees who are constantly moving around like a bird, he said.

Saleh said the idea behind Parastoo is to advocate and support the refugees as they go through a lot of challenges and often do not have a platform to share their story.

“Refugees often have mental health and depression issues, so we try to support them through art,” said the 39-year-old Saleh.

“When we started in 2017, most of the refugee had depression problem to a point where they were suicidal, but now they are happier.

“Plus, most of them are young, so they learn a lot like being in a university.”

He said another reason for him to start Parastoo was because there was a huge gap between locals and refugees, hence he is trying to narrow that gap through art.

“When I arrived in Malaysia in 2016, my situation was very bad where I had no job and money. I started Parastoo because I don’t want other refugees to go through that,” he said.

Saleh said Parastoo produces community development shows, among others.

“For instance, our last show was on child marriage called Scream in Silence,” he said.

“It was a big hit where we had 22 performances for audiences of more than 6,000.”

He said after every show, they would hold discussions with the audience to highlight their issues, and to better understand their own situation.

“With this, everyone in the theatre is part of the show. Everyone plays a role in making this society a better place,” he said.

Saleh said there are 20 permanent members in the theatre, all refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine and other places.

He said there are some locals in the team who volunteer in some of the shows.

The power of art

Saleh said feedback from the audience had always been positive.

“People usually have the tendency to look down on refugees, that we are not smart and unskilful, but after seeing our work with Parastoo, they constantly praise our work. This is the power of art.”

He said Parastoo was funded through the sale of merchandise and tickets. At times, local partners would buy tickets for the whole show.

“We will spend the money on marketing, rent and transport.”

Saleh aims to train more refugees and have more local partners to narrow the gap between locals and refugees further.

Lead actor Farzana Yakta, 20, who is also from Afghanistan, said being a part of the theatre makes her feel like she is one step closer to achieving her goal of becoming a woman rights activist.

“Saleh, who is my brother-in-law, was the one who asked me to be a part of the show.

“Initially, I had doubts about myself but I slowly picked up the skills through the rehearsals,” said Farzana, who has been part of Parastoo since 2017.

She said at first, she did not feel the impact of the theatre but admitted it is making some difference now.

“In the beginning, our actors, who are all refugees, weren’t that interested in taking part as they had doubts if this was useful for them. But once they realised how it affects the audience and makes a difference, they are more than interested to be a part of it,” she said.

Farzana said the roles she plays are not just characters but something that she has been through in her life.

“With this, it helps me find a connection with the characters and I get to express my emotions through these characters.

“As a refugee, I face a lot of discrimination and my way of letting out is by acting it out,” she said.

Local support

Jo Kukathas, co-founder of Instant Cafe Theatre, which is one of the local partners of Parastoo, said she decided to work with Saleh after hearing his story from a friend.

She said his story of being a director and fleeing from Afghanistan got her interested and she decided to meet him.

“Although I see him as just another fellow director, I feel that he has this barrier of being a refugee, so I help him build his contacts through my connections.

“And I also learnt a lot from Saleh with his skills and experience,” she said.

Jo and Saleh work together in the production part, and she also contributes to the script writing.

“I also help him to get designers from the local scene and build up the connections for him.

“We are growing every year by having more shows and we can’t be any happier,” she said.

Those interested to find out more on Parastoo’s next show or to volunteer can reach out to them on social media.

Some 181,000 people in Malaysia are officially registered as refugees and asylum seekers, according to the United Nations, and 57% of them are Rohingya.

Like many countries in the region, Malaysia does not recognise the UN Refugee Convention and those caught without papers are considered illegal migrants. – June 28, 2022.