83
parts of Thailand] and made a rope and tied us together. Then, we had to walk for a while to a
rubber plantation. Then, the [authorities] ordered a car to take us to the [authorities’] station.
When the car arrived, the dallals negotiated with the [authorities]. The [authorities] said they
would take us away unless [the traffickers] paid. After [the traffickers] gave [authorities]
money, the [authorities] left. The [authorities’] car was an open-air pickup truck with lights.
[The traffickers] handed [authorities] money in front of us. Later the dallals told us, “We had
to give them 35,000 Thai Baht (US$1,090; 3,800 Malaysian Ringgit) for your release.” Later,
when they beat us, they said they had to pay 35,000 Thai Baht (US$1,090; 3,800 Malaysian
Ringgit) for our release. They took us back to the same campsite. We had to walk for half an
hour. This happened three times. I was in the camps for five months.275
Several Rohingya survivors held in the human-trafficking camps said that Thai authorities would
enter the camps and appeared to be in collusion with the operators and armed guards of the camps.
For example, “Yusuf,” 19, told Fortify Rights:
Sometimes, the [Thai authorities] came to the camp. Two members of [state agency redacted]
came to the camp. They came on a motorbike, stayed for 25 minutes and then left. There were
three Rohingya people. When [name of trafficker redacted] was there, another agent talked
to the [authorities]. They were happy. There is a small house in the camp where the brokers
live. The [state agency redacted] came and spoke to them . . . During my stay, I saw the [Thai
authorities] four times. The first time I saw them, I was scared. I was scared of harassment. I
heard the [state agency redacted] harassed and killed people.276
“Mohammed Ishmael,” 20, also reported seeing Thai authorities visit the human-trafficking camp
where traffickers held him on the Malaysia-Thailand border in 2014. He said: “There was a [state
agency redacted] officer who came [to the trafficking camp] often, every week, to see the broker
and the situation, and then he would leave. Sometimes he came in uniform, sometimes not. He
had a pistol.”277
Testimony from some Rohingya survivors of human trafficking suggest a more direct involvement
of Thai officials in the human-trafficking trade. For example, a Rohingya survivor testified to the
Commission that Thai [state agency redacted] sold him and others from Myanmar to the Thai owner
of a cow farm in Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand.278
Survivors also told Fortify Rights of Thai authorities taking Rohingya into Thai custody from ships
at sea or island locations and transporting the captives directly to human-trafficking camps. Wai
Roshum, a 50-year-old Rohingya woman, said:
When we arrived in Thailand, a small boat came up to our boat. Then we heard some gunfire
and saw another boat in the distance firing at us and coming towards our boat. When the
dallals saw the other boat, they jumped into a small boat and sped away. Eventually, 30 [Thai]
officials [in black uniforms] boarded our boat . . . The officials stayed for about nine hours on
the boat. They collected the red wristbands from everyone and gave us water and biscuits.
Then they put us onto smaller boats and brought us to shore. When we got to shore, there
were cars waiting, and I saw the [Thai authorities] talking to the drivers of the car. The drivers
of the car were all Thai. Then the [state agency redacted] called us and crowded us into the
cars, saying, “Come! Come! Malaysia! Malaysia! Malaysia!” They said this in English. That
was the last time I saw the officials. In my car, there were 13 of us, including the driver and
two children. During the drive, people were vomiting, urinating, and having diarrhea. After
275 Ibid.
276 Fortify Rights interview with #05, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 2014.
277 Fortify Rights interview with #50, Bangkok, Thailand, September 23, 2014.
278 The Commission interview with W7, Alor Setar, Kedah State, November 2016.