Families forced to pay ransom for Bangladeshis stuck in Thai jungle camps

[webfact]

TRAFFICKED MIGRANTS
Families forced to pay ransom for Bangladeshis stuck in jungle camps
THE DAILY STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
DHAKA



DHAKA: -- PROMISING jobs in Malaysia, a gang of human traffickers held about 250,000 Bangladeshis captive in Thailand for ransom over the past eight years and made millions of taka (a million taka is about Bt428,000).

Lured by dreams of a better life, many of the country's poor boarded cargo vessels to arrive in Thailand first and then travel overland to Malaysia.

However, before they could make it to their final destination, their dreams turned into a collective nightmare. Held in crammed and filthy conditions in jungles for months, even years, they were often beaten up and starved for ransom.

Thailand is a strategic location for holding victims in remote mountains dotting the coast, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Malaysia said.

"The migrants are confined to Thailand until a ransom is paid before they are sent to Malaysia. In the past some of these job seekers fled without paying. It's better to settle the business at the right time," he said, on condition of anonymity.

This past Saturday Thai authorities retrieved 26 bodies from a mass grave in an abandoned jungle camp in Sadao district in Songkhla province, where trafficking victims from Myanmar and Malaysia were believed to have been buried.

In October last year, Thai police rescued 134 trafficked victims confined in a remote rubber plantation in the south of Thailand. The BBC reported that all the victims were Bangladeshi, though Bangladeshi authorities said 118 were Bangladesh nationals while the rest were Rohingya from Myanmar.

Earlier in September, a group of 37 people, also reportedly Bangladeshi, was rescued from the jungle.

Horrific tales

All this just sheds a light on how modern-day slave trade has taken firm root in Bangladesh and across the region. Beaten, abused and left with no food, these men tell a horrific tale of how they were abducted and forced to work in a plantation in hazardous conditions.

According to the Malaysian broker, traffickers' agents spread across Bangladesh get between 5,000 taka and 10,000 taka (Bt2,150 and Bt4,300) for each person supplied to the chain, and the godfathers between 15,000 and 30,000 taka.

The job seekers are not released from the Thai jungles until their captors get confirmation from the traffickers in Bangladesh that they have received ransom from the victims' families. The amount varies, but it is usually between 200,000 and 350,000 taka per person.

Much of the ransom is paid via mobile banking, and the traffickers and their brokers have underhand dealings with local agents of various mobile banking services.

Under pressure from the traffickers to pay the ransom by the deadline, helpless families sell their last piece of land, often their homesteads, or take loans from loan sharks at high interest rates.

Information on the trade and its size is hard to come by due to its clandestine nature. But victims and NGOs working on the issue say the network is spread over Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia.

According to a UN report released in December, some 53,000 people from Bangladesh and Myanmar voyaged to Malaysia and Thailand by sea last year alone.

Estimates by local and international NGOs are based on secondary sources, mainly media reports, and do not reflect the true magnitude of the problem.

In November last year, Daily Star interviewed eight trafficked victims at home and in Malaysia, plus six union chairmen from Cox's Bazar's coastal area and several rights activists to get an idea of the trade. The figures they provide are staggering:

At least two cargo vessels, each carrying about 500 people, leave Bangladesh from every week for eight months a year. Usually, the business is down in June-September because of rain and turbulent sea.

This means some 4,000 people are trafficked every month or about 32,000 a year. And if the 200,000 taka ransom were realised from each of them, the amount would stand at 6.4 billion taka.

But not all families can pay ransom. The victims interviewed said some fail to arrange the money, and many were sold as slaves.

The fact that people are sold as slaves in Thailand even to this day comes as no surprise. In 2013, the Guardian reported how the Thai seafood industry, worth over US$7 billion annually, is built on slave labour, as "ghost ships" reach the Thai shore along the Andaman Sea from the northeast direction - Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The newspaper found that a slave can be bought for around $250 in Thailand, while Reuters news agency put the price at between $155 and $1,550.

"I believe the actual number of people migrating through the route will exceed the estimate," said Teknaf's Katabuniya UP chairman Hamidur Rahman.

From 2011 to 2013, between 50,000 and 100,000 job seekers made the voyage through the Reju canal estuary point alone, said Abul Kashem, executive director of Help, an Ukhia-based NGO.

The Daily Star's estimate of 250,000 Bangladeshis being trafficked over the last eight years is based on information given by victims and rights activists, and is therefore just a conservative estimate. And the calculation was done for the past eight years because we could only trace victims back that far.

Of the estimated victims, 10 to 15 per cent are Rohingya, according to Teknaf and Ukhia police.

Those who have been rescued cannot give any names, but say the trade is controlled by several organised rings.

Jewel Barua, 22, was one of those rescued by the Thai police from a jungle in January last year. He had been abducted and shipped to the country in November 2013.

'Women-only group ran the show'

In the jungle he was held, he saw a women-only group running the business. The leader of the group was called "Kaka Rani and looked like a Thai national".

Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, Thailand, said there were tens of thousands of people in this predicament, beaten and tortured for ransom, whether at sea, in jungle camps, or in other holding areas in Malaysia.

"In some cases, Thai authorities have been complicit in human |trafficking, selling detainees to |criminal syndicates, who then |bring them to traffickers' camps," he told this paper in an email late last year.

In January this year, Thai authorities confirmed more than a dozen state officials, including senior policemen and a navy officer, were being tried for involvement or complicity in human trafficking.

On the Bangladesh side, Teknaf and St Martin's Island are at |the heart of the trade. After arriving from different districts of the |country, fortune seekers are kept |in houses along the Teknaf coast |and robbed of all their belongings, even their sandals. On fixed dates, they are walked to boats by brokers' assistants, who are usually local people.

Captains of most of these vessels are Thai nationals. Once taken to the Thai coast, the victims are separated into groups named after the godfathers in Teknaf and Cox's Bazar who send them.

In clearings cut out in parts of the dense Thai jungles, traffickers set up numerous tarpaulin tents for the job seekers, who are shifted from one place to another for security reasons and to facilitate transfer into Malaysia.

The shifting requires hours of journey in pickup-style roofless vehicles. On its open back are placed 20 migrants, who are then wrapped in a porous plastic sheet.

On the way, whenever asked, presumably by police, what was being carried under the sheet, Jewel Barua heard his captors say: "Vegetables."

In addition to those held captive in jungles, there are reserve supplies of migrants in the bushes atop Thai hills and islands along the coast and also in cruising ships moored in the Andaman Sea, according to victims and brokers.

The reserve is for backup, in case a supply of migrants is caught by police.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Families-forced-to-pay-ransom-for-Bangladeshis-stu-30259333.html


-- The Nation 2015-05-05

[canuckamuck]

It doesn't get much lower than this. I expect outrage in the streets by concerned Thais angry about the injustice and brutality.

Oh wait, it wasn't Thais who were mistreated. Well then I expect some low key official condemnation from some official and then nothing else.

[Robby nz]

The good thing about this is that after years it is finally seeing the light of day and something is actually being done about it.

It is an international problem with Thailand only being a staging point of convenience, even then there is doubt as to whether many of the camps these people are held in are actually in Thailand or Malaysia for there are no lines on the ground in the jungle to show international borders.

Even if Thailand is denied them as a stop off point there are plenty of remote places in both Burma and Malaysia that these people could use, so to put a stop to this abhorrent trade the effort must go back to the roots.

By all means stamp out the Thai portion of this trade and bring any complicit officials and others to justice and ensure that never again can they use Thai soil in their brutal trade, but the real effort in stopping this must come from others.

[WitawatWatawit]

The scale of this is astonishing, and the treatment of these poor people churns the stomach. The government and General Prayut in particular need to do some serious soul searching.

[BSJ]

So, instead of carving out a life in their own country they choose to sneek into another country illegally to work denying some people in the country (Malaysia) the chance of a job.

They deal with criminals that are into people trafficking and when it all goes wrong their family back in the country from which they came has to sell all to get them out of trouble.

I can't feel sorry for there people, they bought into hell with their own free will.

Sure it's wrong to treat people badly but the trade wouldn't exist if people didn't agree to do the wrong thing in the first place.

[oneday]

I don't understand why the Thai authorities, if they REALLY want to stamp out this type of human trafficking, don't have overflights with thermal imagining. With these amounts of people being help in remote jungles their heat signature should stand out like a beacon. It just seems to me if they were really serious about this then this is what they would do and I've never read anywhere that it is being done.

[canuckamuck]

So, instead of carving out a life in their own country they choose to sneek into another country illegally to work denying some people in the country (Malaysia) the chance of a job.

They deal with criminals that are into people trafficking and when it all goes wrong their family back in the country from which they came has to sell all to get them out of trouble.

I can't feel sorry for there people, they bought into hell with their own free will.

Sure it's wrong to treat people badly but the trade wouldn't exist if people didn't agree to do the wrong thing in the first place.

Ransoming is something they have learned from the farang who have done it for millennia.

And Thailand was a magic place full of fairies and gumdrops before the falangs showed up.

[Expat1]

Whoa, this seems to be a growth industry worldwide. It is booming in MidEast (especially near Egypt), South America, Latin America, China, and Thailand also Eastern Europe if one believes the female sex slave trade thing. I saw an advert recently that says one can get a wife from Vietnam and if she runs away they will replace her for free. Now that is service. Is Forbes going to do a fiscal analysis on this like they did the drug business which is apparently larger than the auto industry now revenue wise? is there an apprenticeship program for this type of work as I always wonder how the hell does someone think to get into this? What do they say, hey, let's go grab that broke laborer over there and squeeze his family for a scraps? That would seem counterproductive to me. In Latin America they only grab the wealthy for ransom and women for prostitution. That seems a more sensible business model. These boys here just don't seem too bright. <deleted>?

[Lee4Life]

So, instead of carving out a life in their own country they choose to sneek into another country illegally to work denying some people in the country (Malaysia) the chance of a job.

They deal with criminals that are into people trafficking and when it all goes wrong their family back in the country from which they came has to sell all to get them out of trouble.

I can't feel sorry for there people, they bought into hell with their own free will.

Sure it's wrong to treat people badly but the trade wouldn't exist if people didn't agree to do the wrong thing in the first place.

You have no idea what these people are trying to escape when they first become victims, and the fact is that they are scammed from day one. You somehow seem to have facts others don't...such as that these people were all doing something wrong in the first place. Would you say that a thirteen year old Cambodian girl, who's parents have been promised that she would have a better life "working for a wealthy family in a neighboring country" made a choice to do the wrong thing?

People that have no compassion for victims in many ways are really not much different than people who make them victims.

[Lee4Life]

So, instead of carving out a life in their own country they choose to sneek into another country illegally to work denying some people in the country (Malaysia) the chance of a job.

They deal with criminals that are into people trafficking and when it all goes wrong their family back in the country from which they came has to sell all to get them out of trouble.

I can't feel sorry for there people, they bought into hell with their own free will.

Sure it's wrong to treat people badly but the trade wouldn't exist if people didn't agree to do the wrong thing in the first place.

Ransoming is something they have learned from the farang who have done it for millennia.

You really should hit the history books more if you think that this had to be learned from Westerners.

[SOTIRIOS]

...only complicity.....with a racist undertone....can allow this to happen.....disgusting.....

....'culture'.....???....don't make me puke.....

[SoilSpoil]

So, instead of carving out a life in their own country they choose to sneek into another country illegally to work denying some people in the country (Malaysia) the chance of a job.

They deal with criminals that are into people trafficking and when it all goes wrong their family back in the country from which they came has to sell all to get them out of trouble.

I can't feel sorry for there people, they bought into hell with their own free will.

Sure it's wrong to treat people badly but the trade wouldn't exist if people didn't agree to do the wrong thing in the first place.

Your opinion disgusts me. These very vulnerable people are taken hostage, put in camps, made to slaves, even killed and you somehow try to blame them or being in the wrong first. You have a heart of stone to say you don't feel sorry for these people.

Edited May 5, 2015 by SoilSpoil

[jackanapes]

human trafficking is a global issue and always has been and always will be because of the amount of money involved it is big business .

[Baerboxer]

The scale of this is astonishing, and the treatment of these poor people churns the stomach. The government and General Prayut in particular need to do some serious soul searching.

Agree with your sentiments. No doubt lots of people were involved with this and taking a cut, either directly or indirectly by looking the other way. Time for a real investigation and some serious prosecutions and clean outs.

But, remember when this was brought to the attention of Tarit who simply refused to get the DSI to investigate. They had far more important things to do like hounding cartoonists and people blowing whistles.

[elgordo38]

I don't understand why the Thai authorities, if they REALLY want to stamp out this type of human trafficking, don't have overflights with thermal imagining. With these amounts of people being help in remote jungles their heat signature should stand out like a beacon. It just seems to me if they were really serious about this then this is what they would do and I've never read anywhere that it is being done.

Simple it takes time and money and has no political payback. It take the issuance of a yellow card by the EU to get things moving. Gives them 6 months to clean things up.

[ExPratt]

I'm glad they have mentioned Malaysian officials. The Banglas would be going there to work masses of them their illegally

[ExPratt]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

So, instead of carving out a life in their own country they choose to sneek into another country illegally to work denying some people in the country (Malaysia) the chance of a job.

They deal with criminals that are into people trafficking and when it all goes wrong their family back in the country from which they came has to sell all to get them out of trouble.

I can't feel sorry for there people, they bought into hell with their own free will.

Sure it's wrong to treat people badly but the trade wouldn't exist if people didn't agree to do the wrong thing in the first place.

Believe me no Malaysian wants to do the work they do , why do you think the Indians were imported by the British , because the Malays won't work

They are crying out for low paid foreign labour in Malaysia they have huge infrastructure projects

[RigPig]

So, instead of carving out a life in their own country they choose to sneek into another country illegally to work denying some people in the country (Malaysia) the chance of a job.

They deal with criminals that are into people trafficking and when it all goes wrong their family back in the country from which they came has to sell all to get them out of trouble.

I can't feel sorry for there people, they bought into hell with their own free will.

Sure it's wrong to treat people badly but the trade wouldn't exist if people didn't agree to do the wrong thing in the first place.

Yeah the article says they were hiding under a tarpaulin when stopped by the police and they were described as vegetables. But you have to ask yourself how far you would go to support and feed your family. I often think what I would do if I (and my family) were living in some country with all the BS going on, and I think I would GTFO and do anything I thought I had to for my kids.....

[RigPig]

I don't understand why the Thai authorities, if they REALLY want to stamp out this type of human trafficking, don't have overflights with thermal imagining. With these amounts of people being help in remote jungles their heat signature should stand out like a beacon. It just seems to me if they were really serious about this then this is what they would do and I've never read anywhere that it is being done.

Yeah they do it in our counties just to make sure your not growing a crop in your attic. So the question is do they REALLY want to stop it?

[RigPig]

Whoa, this seems to be a growth industry worldwide. It is booming in MidEast (especially near Egypt), South America, Latin America, China, and Thailand also Eastern Europe if one believes the female sex slave trade thing. I saw an advert recently that says one can get a wife from Vietnam and if she runs away they will replace her for free. Now that is service. Is Forbes going to do a fiscal analysis on this like they did the drug business which is apparently larger than the auto industry now revenue wise? is there an apprenticeship program for this type of work as I always wonder how the hell does someone think to get into this? What do they say, hey, let's go grab that broke laborer over there and squeeze his family for a scraps? That would seem counterproductive to me. In Latin America they only grab the wealthy for ransom and women for prostitution. That seems a more sensible business model. These boys here just don't seem too bright. <deleted>?

Do you have a link for the Vietnamese wife? Sounds like a deal to me

[BSJ]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

So, instead of carving out a life in their own country they choose to sneek into another country illegally to work denying some people in the country (Malaysia) the chance of a job.

They deal with criminals that are into people trafficking and when it all goes wrong their family back in the country from which they came has to sell all to get them out of trouble.

I can't feel sorry for there people, they bought into hell with their own free will.

Sure it's wrong to treat people badly but the trade wouldn't exist if people didn't agree to do the wrong thing in the first place.

Believe me no Malaysian wants to do the work they do , why do you think the Indians were imported by the British , because the Malays won't work

They are crying out for low paid foreign labour in Malaysia they have huge infrastructure projects

Ok, they need workers in Malaysia. Why don't the Malaysian government, who must know what's going on, start a guest worker program like Australia has had for a number of years. The workers are given a 6 to 8 month contract, bought into the country, they have basic accommodation, are feed, are paid and at the end of their contract they go home.

The Malaysian people are not responsible for what happens in Bangladesh anymore than you or me. The UN have their people there so it's up to them to help solve the problems.

Doing criminal things and getting involved with criminal people smugglers is crazy!

[ExPratt]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

So, instead of carving out a life in their own country they choose to sneek into another country illegally to work denying some people in the country (Malaysia) the chance of a job.

They deal with criminals that are into people trafficking and when it all goes wrong their family back in the country from which they came has to sell all to get them out of trouble.

I can't feel sorry for there people, they bought into hell with their own free will.

Sure it's wrong to treat people badly but the trade wouldn't exist if people didn't agree to do the wrong thing in the first place.

Believe me no Malaysian wants to do the work they do , why do you think the Indians were imported by the British , because the Malays won't work

They are crying out for low paid foreign labour in Malaysia they have huge infrastructure projects

Ok, they need workers in Malaysia. Why don't the Malaysian government, who must know what's going on, start a guest worker program like Australia has had for a number of years. The workers are given a 6 to 8 month contract, bought into the country, they have basic accommodation, are feed, are paid and at the end of their contract they go home.

The Malaysian people are not responsible for what happens in Bangladesh anymore than you or me. The UN have their people there so it's up to them to help solve the problems.

Doing criminal things and getting involved with criminal people smugglers is crazy!

Apologies mate wasnt having a pop. A lot of Malaysian "Agencies" and officials make a lot of money from"Illegal cheap labour" We had a fair few die on the project as these workers have no rights and basically no idea how to work safely , many died falling from height , no knowing how to use a harness or not knowing they needed one and were not trained. Amazingly the Malaysia main contractors used this as an excuse for the death while "Warning the sub-cons using the illegal labour" that was about the extent of the punishment . There were never any adequate checks of the workforce and whether they were legal or illegal workers.

There are too many people high up and otherwise with their snouts in the trough for real action to be taken

Edited May 6, 2015 by ExPratt

[ExPratt]

here we go Malaysia heavily involved

Malaysians behind Songkhla human trafficking camp, says Tenaganita

PETALING JAYA: There is a high possibility that Malaysians are involved in border human trafficking related to the mass grave that was uncovered last week in Songkhla, Thailand, says Tenaganita.

"From the testimonies of the migrant and refugee communities, in particularly the Myanmar, Rohingyas and Bangladeshi communities, Malaysians are very much involved in the trafficking of persons at the Thailand- Malaysia border," said Tenaganita director Glorene Das.

Das said in an email statement to The Star Online on Tuesday that many Muslim Rohingyas and Myanmar refugees had informed Tenaganita that after a period of detention at the camps and prisons, they were sent to the border to be sold to traffickers and agents for sex and labour trafficking.

full article http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/05/06/tenaganita-says-possible-malaysians-in-human-trafficking-in-songkhla/?

[maidee]

thai people would never do that, right ?