A Rohingya man confined to an
Summary
internment camp in Myanmar’s Rakhine
State displays his “white card”—an
identification document revoked by
former Myanmar President Thein Sein.
Myanmar revoked Rohingya citizenship
rights in 1982, contributing to their risk
of being trafficked.
©Fortify Rights, Sittwe Township,
Rakhine State, Myanmar, 2015
SUMMARY
“People are being sold like fish, from one hand to another. That’s why the price
[of release from captivity] is increasing.”
—Human trafficker, Selangor State, Malaysia, September 27, 2014
On April 30, 2015, Thai authorities announced the discovery of a mass grave in a makeshift
camp in a forested area near the Malaysian border. The grave contained more than 30
bodies of suspected victims of human trafficking believed to be Rohingya Muslims and
Bangladeshi nationals. Less than one month later, on May 25, the Royal Malaysian Police
announced the discovery of 139 graves and 28 suspected human-trafficking camps in
Wang Kelian, Perlis State, Malaysia.
Rohingya Muslims have faced military-led attacks and severe persecution in Myanmar
for decades. Fortify Rights, the United Nations, and other organizations determined
that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Myanmar authorities committed
genocide against Rohingya—a crime that continues to today. These crimes forced
hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees to flee the country in recent years. Most fled
with hopes of finding sanctuary in Bangladesh and Malaysia, the nearest predominantly
Muslim countries. This report documents how a transnational criminal syndicate—a
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