85 [Senior traffickers] have money and passports and can hide easily in other countries. They work together with [state agency redacted] and [state agency redacted]. They are all shareholders. If one is arrested, the others help, and that protects them all. They can pay bribes to [the authorities] and get released quickly.284 The potential for corruption was also identified as an issue in Malaysia. For example, a Malaysian representative from the Legislative Assembly of Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah State in July 2017 testified to the Commission that potential corruption among Malaysian border-control authority members encourages human-trafficking activities. He said some border agents demand money from vehicles moving back and forth over the border without conducting proper inspections according to their respective agencies. The representative believes human traffickers might rely on this corruption to traffic people to Malaysia in vehicles crossing the border.285 An officer-in-charge of the Padang Besar District Police Headquarters in Malaysia’s Perlis State also told the Commission in 2017 that there was an issue for Malaysian law enforcement agencies with respect to bribery—and that Thai authorities facilitated the passage of “migrants” to Malaysia to avoid the cost of detaining them in Thailand.286 Several known traffickers also explained to Fortify Rights that they often had to negotiate with the Thai authorities to facilitate their business. “Abdul Grey” , a known mid-level trafficker in Malaysia, himself Rohingya, told Fortify Rights: I also know that some boats have to wait. The problem is sometimes they cannot negotiate with the authorities. They have to wait until they get clearance before people can come on shore. This only happens in Thailand. But sometimes, Malaysia closes the border and people have to wait to enter. The Malaysian border is not easy to cross. It’s very common for the Malaysian border to become restricted.287 Rohingya survivors also reported waiting on ships at sea until the “right” time to disembark. For example, “Kaledah,” 18, told Fortify Rights: After six days, we arrived in Thailand. However, the situation in Thailand was not good, and we were told that we had to wait before we could be brought to land. We were waiting for five days in the water before we could go to the shore.288 International condemnation and pressure from advocates as well as principled state security officials in 2015 following the discovery of mass graves in Thailand and Malaysia led to a regional crackdown of the human-trafficking networks, largely halting the trade.289 However, the crackdown led to untold deaths when traffickers abandoned shiploads of Rohingya and Bangladeshis at sea and authorities in the region pushed ships out to international waters rather than allow survivors to disembark and provide protection to them. Chaiwut Chusakun, a 46-year-old Thai tour operator who brought supplies to survivors on an abandoned trafficking ship, witnessed Thai officials boarding the ship. He told Fortify Rights: One [Rohingya] English speaker was on board, and he told the army that they all wanted to go to Malaysia, and the soldiers said, “Since they want to go to Malaysia, we will help them go 284 Fortify Rights interview with #48, Bangkok, Thailand, September 23, 2014. 285 The Commission interview with local politician from the Legislative Assembly of Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah State, July 2017. 286 The Commission interview with Officer in Charge of Padang Besar District Police Headquarters, 2017. 287 Fortify Rights interview with #74, Selangor State, Malaysia, September 2014. 288 Fortify Rights interview with #83, Penang State, Malaysia, September 2014. 289 Ten survivors interviewed by the Commission were stranded at sea in 2015 from three days (W7) to three months (W19). See, also, Fortify Rights interviews in Malaysia and Indonesia, 2015-2016.