I. At Sea: Abuses on Human-Trafficking Ships in the Bay of Bengal 28 A mid-level Rohingya human trafficker operating out of Malaysia told Fortify Rights: People don’t know how much it will cost to travel from Rakhine to Malaysia. They think that their brother will help them, their friend will help them, their neighbor will help them. Then they get on the boat, and only when they arrive in Thailand and reach the camp, do they know about the situation. All the people are able to get on the boat, but not all are able to arrive in Thailand. Many people die on the boat. Only after they arrive at the mountain camp, do they know the situation and what really has happened to them.18 Traffickers not only deceived potential captives with regard to payments, they deceived many to believe the conditions on ships would be humane and comfortable. “Yusuf,” 19, fled his home in Maungdaw Township in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in October 2013 due in part to longstanding restrictions imposed on his community by the Myanmar authorities, including restrictions on the right to freedom of movement. He told Fortify Rights: I didn’t know about the risk, but the broker promised me they would take me on a big ship [to Malaysia] that would hold 2,000 people, but they said they’d only take 500 people. In reality, it was a small boat with around 250 occupancy . . . The agents [on board] had knives and slingshots.19 Onshore Rohingya traffickers also marketed free travel to Malaysia, particularly targeting women, who could be sold for higher prices. “Wai Roshum,” 50, is a Rohingya woman from Bhumi village in Sittwe Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar. She told Fortify Rights: After staying in the [internment] camp [in Myanmar] for a year and a half, I no longer wanted to remain in Myanmar. My parents were gone, my daughter had her own family, and I didn’t have any friends left. I decided I should take my chances to try to reunite with my husband in America . . . I explained to the dallal my situation that I wanted to join my husband but didn’t have any money to pay to get to Malaysia. The dallal took pity on me and said that there was no need for me to pay. We left later that day. I didn’t bring anything with me other than the clothes on my back.20 When Wai Roshum reached Thai waters, Thai authorities took her and many others into custody and then transported the group overland to a human-trafficking camp, where traffickers demanded 7,000 Malaysian Ringgit (approximately US$2,000) to be released.21 A mid-level Rohingya human trafficker operating in Malaysia, explained to Fortify Rights: When dallals collect people from Myanmar, they sometimes tell the people they don’t need to give any money. “We will find a job for you in Malaysia, and then you can pay us back very easily,” they say. As soon as they get on the boat, the situation changes, and when they arrive in Thailand, [the traffickers] are in control of these people. If you can pay 6,000 Malaysian Ringgit (US$1,700), they say, “You can go to Malaysia.” So many people have died in Thailand. If they cannot pay, they have to stay in the camps sometimes for one month, two months, or six months, and then they die. So many people have died already.22 Onshore traffickers had an economic incentive to deceive Rohingya onto ships. Supervisors paid onshore traffickers a commission based on the quantity of people “recruited” to board ships. This incentivized coercion and deception. 18 Fortify Rights interview with group of human traffickers, #74, Selangor State, Malaysia, September 27, 2014. 19 Fortify Rights interview with #05, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 10, 2014. 20 Fortify Rights interview with #78, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 28, 2014. 21 Ibid. See also, Chapter IV. Testimony Suggesting Official Complicity in Human Trafficking. 22 Fortify Rights interview with #60, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 28, 2014.