Methodology
24
and Fortify Rights provided nominal funds to interviewees to cover travel costs and other expenditures
to participate in the research. All of those interviewed consented to be interviewed. To protect the
security of people who spoke with the investigation teams, the Commission and Fortify Rights have
withheld the names of interviewees and other identifying information.
The Commission and Fortify Rights found that many survivors of human trafficking and other
abuses lacked geographical knowledge about where they had been held, including in what
country. This was likely due to extreme duress experienced in the custody of human traffickers,
an unfamiliarity with the geographical areas of Malaysia and Thailand, and because traffickers
forcibly transported their captives from location to location during nighttime hours and without
communicating geographic details.
All currency conversion rates noted in this report are based on the rate of conversion at the time of
the interview.
Fortify Rights obtained and analyzed photographs and videos taken by amateur and professional
photographers and videographers from 2013 to 2015, depicting material relevant to the humantrafficking crisis. Fortify Rights also collected audio recordings of phone interviews as well as
audio recordings of phone calls between Rohingya men and members of a human-trafficking
syndicate. The persons placing the call provided consent to record the call. This documentation is
on file with Fortify Rights.