“Sold Like Fish” II. ON LAND: ABUSES AT HUMAN-TRAFFICKING CAMPS AND HOUSES IN THAILAND AND MALAYSIA “Every day, they counted us.” —“Jamal,” 22, a Rohingya survivor of human trafficking, Penang State, Malaysia, September 28, 2014 “They counted us regularly, every day, five to six times per day. We would line up—standing sometimes, sitting sometimes. If the numbers weren’t right, then they would beat us. I think they were afraid we would run away. They would beat us if we talked with each other.” —Foyas, 20, a Rohingya survivor of human trafficking, Pahang State, Malaysia, August 13, 2014 Members of a transnational criminal syndicate—including in some cases government officials—conceived, managed, supported, and operated camps in Thailand and Malaysia where traffickers deprived Rohingya men, women, and children of their liberty and treated them as chattel. Traffickers, often armed, in on-shore camps counted their human cargo aloud multiple times daily, enabling survivors interviewed for this report to recall the number of captives in the camps.88 In 2014 and early 2015, Fortify Rights estimates that traffickers held thousands of people in several camps in Thailand and Malaysia at any given time.89 Traffickers transported captives in and out of camps on a daily basis—particularly during the “sailing season” from November to April when the seas in Southeast Asia are more navigable. Survivors explained that the traffickers in the camps typically separated women and children from the men.90 88 See, for example, Fortify Rights interview with #55, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 27, 2014; Fortify Rights interview with #19, Pahang State, Malaysia, August 13, 2014. 89 Fortify Rights interviews with eyewitnesses and survivors, 2013-2015. The Commission interviews with eyewitnesses and survivors, 2017. In May 2015, there were an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 Rohingya on ships in the Bay of Bengal awaiting disembarkation. UNHCR Regional Office for Southeast Asia, “Mixed Maritime Movements in Southeast Asia.” See also, “Malaysia and Thailand Turn Away Hundreds on Migrant Boats,” The Guardian. 90 See, for example, Fortify Rights interview with #05 and #06, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 10-11, 2014.