Victims of human trafficking recall their nightmare on crowded boat

[webfact]

Victims of trafficking recall their nightmare
PRATCH RUJIVANAROM
THE NATION
RANONG



REVEAL HORRORS OF BEING SMUGGLED ON CROWDED BOAT

BANGKOK: -- THREE Bangladeshi victims of human trafficking have revealed the horror stories derived from being on a crowed boat on the Andaman Sea en route to a smuggler's camp in Songkhla.

The men have been held at Ranong Immigration Police's detention centre for 18 months awaiting deportation.

On Tuesday, The Nation was granted special permission to visit the detention centre and speak to them about transnational human trafficking.

Nur Alam, 19, said initially he and the two other men were not allowed to leave the facility to exercise and get some fresh air in its small courtyard and there was nothing to do.

"The living conditions have improved in the past few months as we are allowed to go out of the building and have some exercise," Alam said.

The three detainees seemed to be healthy and in a good state of mind.

Nur-e-Alam, 25, said he was offered "a vocation trip" to Malaysia by a trafficking broker at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh but ended up on a smuggling boat heading to Thailand.

"First, I was taken to a small boat and then transferred to a bigger boat on the open sea," Nur-e-Alam said.

This is similar story to the one told by Alam, who was tricked into thinking he was going to Malaysia for a free tourism trip.

However, he also ended up on a crowed boat. The boat was at sea for nine days when it reached a mountainous shore, supposedly along the Andaman coast in Thailand.

The passengers were kept two nights on a nearby mountain before being transported by car to a camp near the Malaysian border, which housed around 80 people.

The other victim, Shaha Buddin, 23, who boarded the same boat as Nur Alam, described the conditions on the boat as very poor, as there were more than 400 people and the food supply was limited.

"They [the traffickers] only gave us two meals of plain rice and dried chilli [a day]. They also gave us only 20 millilitres of water three times per day. If anyone ask for more food or water, they were beaten up," Buddin said.

"On the later days of the journey on the sea, there was a food shortage and we only received one meal per day," he added.

He said that the traffickers threw sick people overboard and raped women repeatedly every night.

Unlike his companions, his intention was to find a better life in Malaysia. He said that he was promised job opportunities in Malaysia by his broker, who had offered a special discount for the sea journey.

After reaching the camp near the Malaysian border, all three men stated that they were forced to call back home to inform their families that they had to pay a BDT200,000 ransom (Bt87,000) or they would be killed.

Nur-e-Alam and Nur Alam's families paid the ransom in cash to the broker in Cox's Bazar and the money was transferred to a bank account in Thailand.

They were to be transported across the border into Malaysia along with the other people whose families paid the ransom but the camp was raised by Thai police before that happened.

Alam said that they were held in custody at Hat Yai for 21 days before being transferred to the detention centre in January 2014.

Alam and Buddin have been verified as Bangladeshi nationals by the Bangladeshi embassy in Bangkok but the verification process is ongoing for Nur-e-Alam.

Recently, more Bangladeshis have become victims of human trafficking, with 75 Bangladeshis arrested in Ranong between October 2014 and May. There are 134 Bangladeshis being detained in Immigration Police detention centres nationwide.

Ranong Immigration Police deputy commander Somchai Jitsangob Ranong said 10 Rohingya were also in the detention centre in the province.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Victims-of-trafficking-recall-their-nightmare-30261156.html


-- The Nation 2015-05-29

[kalbz]

I might sound cruel. But a person who pays & willingly goes on a boat to illegally migrate to another country is a not human trafficking 'victim', they are illegal migrants. Yes, seriously bad things happen to them on their journey & this should be regularly reported through the media in their home countries to alert them that the boat journeys are extremely dangerous paths to take & what the consequences are.

[halloween]

"Free tourism trip" - sure, that's believable. Has he got a passport?

I count 2 admitted economic migrants, and one liar.

BTW they forgot to mention the oppression and violence back home which forced them to flee in fear of their lives.

Edited May 29, 2015 by halloween

[FangFerang]

I might sound cruel. But a person who pays & willingly goes on a boat to illegally migrate to another country is a not human trafficking 'victim', they are illegal migrants. Yes, seriously bad things happen to them on their journey & this should be regularly reported through the media in their home countries to alert them that the boat journeys are extremely dangerous paths to take & what the consequences are.

Bull feathers and horse hockey.

They are victims of human slavery and nothing more.

[halloween]

I might sound cruel. But a person who pays & willingly goes on a boat to illegally migrate to another country is a not human trafficking 'victim', they are illegal migrants. Yes, seriously bad things happen to them on their journey & this should be regularly reported through the media in their home countries to alert them that the boat journeys are extremely dangerous paths to take & what the consequences are.

Bull feathers and horse hockey.

They are victims of human slavery and nothing more.

Which part of this OP did you fail to comprehend?

[GoodThaiGirl]

I might sound cruel. But a person who pays & willingly goes on a boat to illegally migrate to another country is a not human trafficking 'victim', they are illegal migrants. Yes, seriously bad things happen to them on their journey & this should be regularly reported through the media in their home countries to alert them that the boat journeys are extremely dangerous paths to take & what the consequences are.

Bull feathers and horse hockey.

They are victims of human slavery and nothing more.

they are scammed victims thats all they paid there money.....to be illegal if they didnt get caught they wouldnt be victims yes

[lostoday]

From the OP, "Nur-e-Alam, 25, said he was offered "a vocation trip" to Malaysia by a trafficking broker at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh but ended up on a smuggling boat heading to Thailand."

Does anyone actually believe this? I know the folks on Thai Visa are gullible but come on........

[Linzz]

I might sound cruel. But a person who pays & willingly goes on a boat to illegally migrate to another country is a not human trafficking 'victim', they are illegal migrants. Yes, seriously bad things happen to them on their journey & this should be regularly reported through the media in their home countries to alert them that the boat journeys are extremely dangerous paths to take & what the consequences are.

Bull feathers and horse hockey.

They are victims of human slavery and nothing more.

they are scammed victims thats all they paid there money.....to be illegal if they didnt get caught they wouldnt be victims yes

So they were only victims when they got caught? Huh? I thought they were victims of extortion before they got caught. Point is what is it you wouldn't do to escape poverty or victimization? Stand in their shoes for a moment

[halloween]

I might sound cruel. But a person who pays & willingly goes on a boat to illegally migrate to another country is a not human trafficking 'victim', they are illegal migrants. Yes, seriously bad things happen to them on their journey & this should be regularly reported through the media in their home countries to alert them that the boat journeys are extremely dangerous paths to take & what the consequences are.

Bull feathers and horse hockey.

They are victims of human slavery and nothing more.

they are scammed victims thats all they paid there money.....to be illegal if they didnt get caught they wouldnt be victims yes

So they were only victims when they got caught? Huh? I thought they were victims of extortion before they got caught. Point is what is it you wouldn't do to escape poverty or victimization? Stand in their shoes for a moment

Correct, they were the victims of their co-conspirators in an illegal migration enterprise. Tough TIT.

You seem to think that illegal migration to escape poverty is acceptable. How would you fell if half the population of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, let's throw in Pakistan, decided to head to your country to escape poverty?

I once walked a mile in a man's shoes, then told him to get lost. i knew he couldn't catch me because i had his shoes.

[Yunla]

Behind the labels of economic migrant, refugee, or whatever we choose to call them, they are people. People who are willing to work hard jobs for low pay. We don't know how many of the 'economic migrants' were pushed into being trafficked, some were pushed, some were sold, some chose to seek work on what they believed to be safer shores.

Whatever labels we apply, these are poor people, and they deserve to be treated as people and not pieces of meat. The more tolerance there is for this dehumanisation, the more likely it becomes that it will be visited upon all people in the future. We have to draw a line that says people have worth as people, we can't just keep sliding down this slippery slope.

[lostoday]

Behind the labels of economic migrant, refugee, or whatever we choose to call them, they are people. People who are willing to work hard jobs for low pay. We don't know how many of the 'economic migrants' were pushed into being trafficked, some were pushed, some were sold, some chose to seek work on what they believed to be safer shores.

Whatever labels we apply, these are poor people, and they deserve to be treated as people and not pieces of meat. The more tolerance there is for this dehumanisation, the more likely it becomes that it will be visited upon all people in the future. We have to draw a line that says people have worth as people, we can't just keep sliding down this slippery slope.

They thought they were taking a vacation. From the OP, "Nur-e-Alam, 25, said he was offered "a vocation trip" to Malaysia by a trafficking broker at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh but ended up on a smuggling boat heading to Thailand."

Edited May 29, 2015 by lostoday

[halloween]

Behind the labels of economic migrant, refugee, or whatever we choose to call them, they are people. People who are willing to work hard jobs for low pay. We don't know how many of the 'economic migrants' were pushed into being trafficked, some were pushed, some were sold, some chose to seek work on what they believed to be safer shores.

Whatever labels we apply, these are poor people, and they deserve to be treated as people and not pieces of meat. The more tolerance there is for this dehumanisation, the more likely it becomes that it will be visited upon all people in the future. We have to draw a line that says people have worth as people, we can't just keep sliding down this slippery slope.

They thought they were taking a vacation. From the OP, "Nur-e-Alam, 25, said he was offered "a vocation trip" to Malaysia by a trafficking broker at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh but ended up on a smuggling boat heading to Thailand."

vocation : A regular occupation, especially one for which a person is particularly suited or qualified.

[lostoday]

Behind the labels of economic migrant, refugee, or whatever we choose to call them, they are people. People who are willing to work hard jobs for low pay. We don't know how many of the 'economic migrants' were pushed into being trafficked, some were pushed, some were sold, some chose to seek work on what they believed to be safer shores.

Whatever labels we apply, these are poor people, and they deserve to be treated as people and not pieces of meat. The more tolerance there is for this dehumanisation, the more likely it becomes that it will be visited upon all people in the future. We have to draw a line that says people have worth as people, we can't just keep sliding down this slippery slope.

They thought they were taking a vacation. From the OP, "Nur-e-Alam, 25, said he was offered "a vocation trip" to Malaysia by a trafficking broker at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh but ended up on a smuggling boat heading to Thailand."

vocation : A regular occupation, especially one for which a person is particularly suited or qualified.

Vacation trip is normal usage. I would think the reporter spelled vacation wrong. I have never heard of any one taking a vocation trip. Of course I could be wrong. Try google, "vocation trip" and see what happens.

[halloween]

Behind the labels of economic migrant, refugee, or whatever we choose to call them, they are people. People who are willing to work hard jobs for low pay. We don't know how many of the 'economic migrants' were pushed into being trafficked, some were pushed, some were sold, some chose to seek work on what they believed to be safer shores.

Whatever labels we apply, these are poor people, and they deserve to be treated as people and not pieces of meat. The more tolerance there is for this dehumanisation, the more likely it becomes that it will be visited upon all people in the future. We have to draw a line that says people have worth as people, we can't just keep sliding down this slippery slope.

They thought they were taking a vacation. From the OP, "Nur-e-Alam, 25, said he was offered "a vocation trip" to Malaysia by a trafficking broker at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh but ended up on a smuggling boat heading to Thailand."

vocation : A regular occupation, especially one for which a person is particularly suited or qualified.

Vacation trip is normal usage. I would think the reporter spelled vacation wrong. I have never heard of any one taking a vocation trip. Of course I could be wrong. Try google, "vocation trip" and see what happens.

What's normal usage in Bangladesh? You don't even wobble your head as you talk (I hope).

[lostoday]

They thought they were taking a vacation. From the OP, "Nur-e-Alam, 25, said he was offered "a vocation trip" to Malaysia by a trafficking broker at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh but ended up on a smuggling boat heading to Thailand."

vocation : A regular occupation, especially one for which a person is particularly suited or qualified.

Vacation trip is normal usage. I would think the reporter spelled vacation wrong. I have never heard of any one taking a vocation trip. Of course I could be wrong. Try google, "vocation trip" and see what happens.

What's normal usage in Bangladesh? You don't even wobble your head as you talk (I hope).

OP, " horror stories derived from being on a crowed "

Have you ever been on a crowed boat? My head would wobble too. Is it really difficult to believe vacation was spelled wrong?

Edited May 29, 2015 by lostoday

[halloween]

Vacation trip is normal usage. I would think the reporter spelled vacation wrong. I have never heard of any one taking a vocation trip. Of course I could be wrong. Try google, "vocation trip" and see what happens.

What's normal usage in Bangladesh? You don't even wobble your head as you talk (I hope).

OP, " horror stories derived from being on a crowed "

Have you ever been on a crowed boat? My head would wobble too. Is it really difficult to believe vacation was spelled wrong?

Nope, it makes sense to me either way. Vocation he was going to work. Vacation he's lying and he was going to work.

[Sealbash]

Behind the labels of economic migrant, refugee, or whatever we choose to call them, they are people. People who are willing to work hard jobs for low pay. We don't know how many of the 'economic migrants' were pushed into being trafficked, some were pushed, some were sold, some chose to seek work on what they believed to be safer shores.

Whatever labels we apply, these are poor people, and they deserve to be treated as people and not pieces of meat. The more tolerance there is for this dehumanisation, the more likely it becomes that it will be visited upon all people in the future. We have to draw a line that says people have worth as people, we can't just keep sliding down this slippery slope.

And the other one billion of them in the world that are in the same or worse circumstances? Save them all?

[lostoday]

Vacation trip is normal usage. I would think the reporter spelled vacation wrong. I have never heard of any one taking a vocation trip. Of course I could be wrong. Try google, "vocation trip" and see what happens.

What's normal usage in Bangladesh? You don't even wobble your head as you talk (I hope).

OP, " horror stories derived from being on a crowed "

Have you ever been on a crowed boat? My head would wobble too. Is it really difficult to believe vacation was spelled wrong?

Nope, it makes sense to me either way. Vocation he was going to work. Vacation he's lying and he was going to work.

From the OP, "This is similar story to the one told by Alam, who was tricked into thinking he was going to Malaysia for a free tourism trip".

They have been here for 18 months, you would think they had enough time to think of a better story if it was a lie?

From the OP, "Unlike his companions, his intention was to find a better life in Malaysia. He said that he was promised job opportunities in Malaysia by his broker, who had offered a special discount for the sea journey."

Two guys going on a vacation and one wanted a job. That is what the OP says. Might be a good idea for all the bleeding hearts to read it.

Edited May 29, 2015 by lostoday

[h90]

they are not victims

[lostoday]

they are not victims

I have noticed that the bleeding hearts who didn't read the post about fellows looking for a vacation didn't come back on and post a ka tote (sorry) that they were really wrong and out of order. You know how much Farang hate to apologize and lose face eh? http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/828687-is-saying-sorry/

Edited May 29, 2015 by lostoday

[philw]

Lovely to see the compassion and empathy on Thai visa.

Not.

If you lot had your way, the refugees of the 2nd world war would have been left to rot.

You know, the Germans, Poles, Russians, Jews, Greeks,et al.

Some of the posters here are so appalling that perhaps they should made to experience the real misery that at least a third of the worlds population lives in.

[lostoday]

Lovely to see the compassion and empathy on Thai visa.

Not.

If you lot had your way, the refugees of the 2nd world war would have been left to rot.

You know, the Germans, Poles, Russians, Jews, Greeks,et al.

Some of the posters here are so appalling that perhaps they should made to experience the real misery that at least a third of the worlds population lives in.

Two guys trying to go to Malaysia on a vacation were kidnapped. Did you read the OP?

[dragonfly94]

they are not victims

Of course they are- they are Muslims, always the victim

[dragonfly94]

Lovely to see the compassion and empathy on Thai visa.

Not.

If you lot had your way, the refugees of the 2nd world war would have been left to rot.

You know, the Germans, Poles, Russians, Jews, Greeks,et al.

Some of the posters here are so appalling that perhaps they should made to experience the real misery that at least a third of the worlds population lives in.

These beggars are not the same as ww2 refugees and are not escaping any war. When even Buddhist monks demonstrate against them you have to wonder about their claims of 'persecution'. They are trouble makers whose religion is a barrier to them integrating into any but an Islamic country. They are poor, uneducated and and have large families, caring for them is the real headache, not getting away on a boat to circumvent immigration laws by playing the refugee card.

[lostoday]

Lovely to see the compassion and empathy on Thai visa.

Not.

If you lot had your way, the refugees of the 2nd world war would have been left to rot.

You know, the Germans, Poles, Russians, Jews, Greeks,et al.

Some of the posters here are so appalling that perhaps they should made to experience the real misery that at least a third of the worlds population lives in.

These beggars are not the same as ww2 refugees and are not escaping any war. When even Buddhist monks demonstrate against them you have to wonder about their claims of 'persecution'. They are trouble makers whose religion is a barrier to them integrating into any but an Islamic country. They are poor, uneducated and and have large families, caring for them is the real headache, not getting away on a boat to circumvent immigration laws by playing the refugee card.

They are two guys trying to take a vacation. Did you read the OP?

[philw]

Lovely to see the compassion and empathy on Thai visa.

Not.

If you lot had your way, the refugees of the 2nd world war would have been left to rot.

You know, the Germans, Poles, Russians, Jews, Greeks,et al.

Some of the posters here are so appalling that perhaps they should made to experience the real misery that at least a third of the worlds population lives in.

These beggars are not the same as ww2 refugees and are not escaping any war. When even Buddhist monks demonstrate against them you have to wonder about their claims of 'persecution'. They are trouble makers whose religion is a barrier to them integrating into any but an Islamic country. They are poor, uneducated and and have large families, caring for them is the real headache, not getting away on a boat to circumvent immigration laws by playing the refugee card.

Codswallop.

Gotta recognise your lack of compassion though.

Wish you a pleasant buffet tomorrow.

Edited May 29, 2015 by philw

[lostoday]

Lovely to see the compassion and empathy on Thai visa.

Not.

If you lot had your way, the refugees of the 2nd world war would have been left to rot.

You know, the Germans, Poles, Russians, Jews, Greeks,et al.

Some of the posters here are so appalling that perhaps they should made to experience the real misery that at least a third of the worlds population lives in.

These beggars are not the same as ww2 refugees and are not escaping any war. When even Buddhist monks demonstrate against them you have to wonder about their claims of 'persecution'. They are trouble makers whose religion is a barrier to them integrating into any but an Islamic country. They are poor, uneducated and and have large families, caring for them is the real headache, not getting away on a boat to circumvent immigration laws by playing the refugee card.

Codswallop.

Gotta recognise your lack of compassion though.

Wish you a pleasant buffet tomorrow.

Phil I don't want you to freak out but this thread is about two guys trying to take a vacation. Did you read the OP?

It would make a great movie about vacations really gone wrong.

Edited May 29, 2015 by lostoday

[Linzz]

Correct, they were the victims of their co-conspirators in an illegal migration enterprise. Tough TIT.

You seem to think that illegal migration to escape poverty is acceptable. How would you fell if half the population of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, let's throw in Pakistan, decided to head to your country to escape poverty?

I once walked a mile in a man's shoes, then told him to get lost. i knew he couldn't catch me because i had his shoes.

"How would you fell if half the population of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, let's throw in Pakistan, decided to head to your country to escape poverty?"

Hypothetical nonsense.How could that ever happen? Can you talk facts or just ridiculous hyperbole?

"co-conspirators"

People forced onto boats at knife point are hardly co-conspirators If any were duplicitous then they were duped into believing they could have a future. Desperate people grab what they can to survive poverty and persecution not thinking about the rights and wrongs of legality. Are you not aware of the situation in Myanmar? There needs to be a distinction drawn between genuine refugees and economic migrants.

Your last sentence sounds like you think you're a pretty funny guy, but really it's just callous and vulgar.

[Yunla]

Behind the labels of economic migrant, refugee, or whatever we choose to call them, they are people. People who are willing to work hard jobs for low pay. We don't know how many of the 'economic migrants' were pushed into being trafficked, some were pushed, some were sold, some chose to seek work on what they believed to be safer shores.

Whatever labels we apply, these are poor people, and they deserve to be treated as people and not pieces of meat. The more tolerance there is for this dehumanisation, the more likely it becomes that it will be visited upon all people in the future. We have to draw a line that says people have worth as people, we can't just keep sliding down this slippery slope.

And the other one billion of them in the world that are in the same or worse circumstances? Save them all?

It is not a simple task, and we all know that life isn't fair, but that is no reason to stop trying to make it fairer.

I was talking about the people who are in the trafficking cycle through this region's waters, as in the OP. The trafficking cycle is barbaric and evil. There is no need to reduce people down to this level, and this region's nations should work together to relocate these people in lands where they can best integrate culturally and be productive workers. This has already slowly started happening in some places.

On the one billion plus people, we are obviously switching to long-term macro abstracts, they need social reforms and building of infrastructure and manufacturing in their home nations, so they can "save" themselves. It will take generations, centuries.

There is a lot of talk in the media these days about "benefits entitlement" culture with people demanding social security benefits and soforth, in Europe especially. I am more concerned with "work entitlement" culture, because I believe that every person on the planet has the right to work a fair-wage job, and also there is no practical reason why these jobs should not be created. So this is obviously the desired long-term (meaning centuries) goal. But as I'm sure you know, current global social, religious and military barriers are in the way of this ideal global model.

In the meantime, we could start by condemning trafficking, and trying to help those who we see suffering in this region's waters.

[lostoday]

It is not a simple task, and we all know that life isn't fair, but that is no reason to stop trying to make it fairer.

I was talking about the people who are in the trafficking cycle through this region's waters, as in the OP. The trafficking cycle is barbaric and evil. There is no need to reduce people down to this level, and this region's nations should work together to relocate these people in lands where they can best integrate culturally and be productive workers. This has already slowly started happening in some places.

On the one billion plus people, we are obviously switching to long-term macro abstracts, they need social reforms and building of infrastructure and manufacturing in their home nations, so they can "save" themselves. It will take generations, centuries.

There is a lot of talk in the media these days about "benefits entitlement" culture with people demanding social security benefits and soforth, in Europe especially. I am more concerned with "work entitlement" culture, because I believe that every person on the planet has the right to work a fair-wage job, and also there is no practical reason why these jobs should not be created. So this is obviously the desired long-term (meaning centuries) goal. But as I'm sure you know, current global social, religious and military barriers are in the way of this ideal global model.

In the meantime, we could start by condemning trafficking, and trying to help those who we see suffering in this region's waters.

The OP is about "Nur-e-Alam, 25, said he was offered "a vocation trip" to Malaysia.....This is similar story to the one told by Alam, who was tricked into thinking he was going to Malaysia for a free tourism trip."

You wrote, "On the one billion plus people, we are obviously switching to long-term macro abstracts, they need social reforms and building of infrastructure and manufacturing in their home nations, so they can "save" themselves. It will take generations, centuries."

Is that really how you would describe a couple of guys trying to take a vacation?

If you read the OP you will understand that the headline has very little to do with the rest of the post.

The Headline should read, "guys looking for a cheap vacation have rough boat ride and are held captive in Thailand in Thailand for 18 months."

Edited May 29, 2015 by lostoday