I. At Sea: Abuses on Human-Trafficking Ships in the Bay of Bengal 26 Malaysia for a single fee or, in many cases, no fee. Some onshore traffickers promised lucrative jobs and legal status in Malaysia as well as lump-sum payments to family members remaining in Myanmar’s Rakhine State or Bangladesh.4 Traffickers deceived Rohingya about how much money they would have to pay for the journey, the conditions, treatment, and liberties provided during the trip, and what awaited them in Thailand and Malaysia. Traffickers and witnesses testified that ships needed to transport at least 300 to 400 “passengers” in order to be profitable and cover costs, including fuel.5 Traffickers financially incentivized onshore brokers in Rakhine State, Myanmar and Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh to quickly “recruit” masses of “passengers.” Many survivors reported traveling on ships carrying more than 400 “passengers,” and some survivors reported larger vessels carrying several thousand people.6 A Rohingya trafficker in Sittwe in Myanmar’s Rakhine State deceived “Mohammed Yunus,” 26, to board a ship the trafficker said was headed for Malaysia: “The dallal said that, if I reached Malaysia, my life would develop so much.”7 An alleged trafficker in southern Thailand told Fortify Rights, “[Rohingya in Myanmar] are told the government [of Malaysia] will give them an ID, that they can work there, and they believe that and so they come.”8 Upon boarding ships in international waters, armed traffickers held Rohingya in deplorable and overcrowded conditions. On most ships, traffickers distributed color-coded wristbands to Rohingya, with each color representing the boss who “owned” the wristband wearer. Fortify Rights documented the distribution of black, white, yellow, and red wristbands between 2012 and 2015. “Fatima,” 20, was seven-months pregnant when she, her husband, and their one-year-old child boarded a human-trafficking ship. She decided to flee their home in Aung Mingalar village in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, fearing she or her child would die in childbirth due to the government’s denial of access to adequate health care. She and her family spent more than one month at sea on a ship operated by human traffickers, waiting for the ship to fill with “passengers” before departing. She told Fortify Rights: Before we got on the big boat, we were each given a red plastic bracelet. I don’t know what this bracelet was for, but everyone on the boat had one, and they were all the same color. The boat had two levels. Altogether, there were 500 people on the boat, mostly Rohingya and Bengali.9 “Mohammed Yunus,” 26, also told Fortify Rights of traffickers providing different color wristbands to their shipboard captives: There were three kinds of bracelets—black, white, and red. Our dallal was the white bracelet. When they put it on our hands, we asked, ‘What is that?’ They told us that people had bought us. At that time, I was crying. After that, they checked our whole body, and if we had anything, they took it—our belts, knives, everything.10 4 Fortify Rights, internal report on human trafficking case, trial monitoring notes, Rachada Criminal Court, Human Trafficking Division, Bangkok, Thailand, 2016. 5 Ibid. 6 UNHCR Regional Office for Southeast Asia, Mixed Maritime Movements in Southeast Asia, 2015. 7 In this context, a “dallal” is an intermediary involved in the trafficking business. Generally, the term is used in reference to local intermediaries who are often associated with unlawful behavior. Fortify Rights interview with #121, Sittwe Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 26, 2015. 8 9 Fortify Rights interview with #118, Songkhla Province, Thailand, May 8, 2015. Fortify Rights interview with #75, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 27, 2014. See also, Fortify Rights interviews with #23, #55, #67, #74, #77, #78, and #113 in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand, August 15, 2014 – March 6, 2015. 10 Fortify Rights interview with #121, Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 26, 2015.