“Sold Like Fish” METHODOLOGY The Commission and Fortify Rights, in collaboration with teams of interpreters, translators, fixers, and legal researchers, researched and wrote this report. In total, the Commission and Fortify Rights conducted 270 interviews for this report from 2013 to 2019. The Commission conducted 126 interviews with Rohingya survivors and witnesses of human trafficking, Malaysian government officials—including members of the Royal Malaysian Police and General Operations Force—and residents of Wang Kelian. The Commission collected most of the statements for this report in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Fortify Rights conducted 144 interviews from 2013 to 2019 with eyewitnesses, survivors of human rights violations, members of a human-trafficking syndicate, government officials, aid workers, and others. Fortify Rights conducted most interviews during the height of the human-trafficking crisis in Southeast Asia between 2013 to 2015. Fortify Rights conducted interviews in Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia and conducted site visits to Rohingya internment camps in Myanmar, Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, immigration detention centers and government-run shelters in Thailand, refugee camps and temporary shelters in Indonesia, and refugee communities in numerous locations in Malaysia and near the Malaysia-Thailand border. Fortify Rights also observed and monitored the human-trafficking trials in Thailand from 2015 to the day of the verdict on July 19, 2017. After the Royal Malaysian Police detained Rohingya survivors in the Belantik Immigration Detention Centre in Sik, Kedah State, the Commission planned a visit to the center on May 26, 2015. The Commission sent a notice to relevant officials of the planned visit on May 22, 2015 in accordance with the 1999 Act of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. Although the authorities denied the Commission access to the center without providing a reason on May 22, the authorities granted permission on September 3, 2015. During its visit, the Commission interviewed four Rohingya. From November 10 to 12, 2016, with the assistance of members of the Rohingya community, the Commission recorded statements from 19 witnesses, ranging in age from 16 to 55, in Alor Setar, Kedah State. The Commission categorized as refugees five of the witnesses who arrived in Malaysia after being stranded at sea when human traffickers abandoned the vessels. The Commission categorized the remaining 14 witnesses as survivors from the Wang Kelian human-trafficking camp. The Commission and Fortify Rights interviewed survivors and eyewitnesses in Rohingya language with English, Thai, or Bahasa Malay interpretation. No one interviewed for this report received compensation, and the investigation teams informed all interviewees of the purpose of the interview, its voluntary nature, and the ways that the information shared might be used. In some cases, the Commission