I. At Sea: Abuses on Human-Trafficking Ships in the Bay of Bengal 34 Almost all the people [on the boat] were beaten . . . [The traffickers] put numbers on our backs like we were animals. They separated us into small groups—ten per group—and forced [the men] to go and sit at the bottom of the boat . . . The guards beat me. If anyone went to the toilet, they had to return quickly to the bottom of the boat. If anyone took too long in the toilet, the guards beat him. The beatings were harsh . . . When we could no longer stay inside, we tried to go to the upper deck to get comfortable space to breathe. But the guards beat us to force us back down to the bottom of the boat again. Sometimes, the others on the boat would beat each other, because they tended to fall down on each other when the guard beat them. We could not breathe very well inside, and it was also very hot. We tried to go up to breathe, and they beat us again. We had many difficulties there. The people suffered injuries and swelling.58 “Mohammed Ishmael,” 20, showed Fortify Rights numerous scars on his body from beatings by the traffickers. He said: Some [traffickers] got mad when we struggled for food and water. The Burmese guards urinated on the faces and in the mouths of some who complained. They beat them for half an hour and then urinated in their mouths . . . I was beaten on the boat by the guards. They had a taser gun. If someone spoke up or complained, they touched him with the taser gun . . . They had a plastic pipe, and in the middle, they put an iron rod. They beat us with that, and they had a thick rope.59 The traffickers did not spare children from the beatings. A Rohingya widow, 27, and her five children from Sittwe Township in Myanmar’s Rakhine State boarded a ship operated by human traffickers in March 2015. The family was at sea for an estimated 50 days: Sometimes, the crew would beat the children. My children were beaten. Whenever the children cried, they would be beaten. At lunchtime, when the children started to get hungry, they’d cry; at this time, the crew would beat them. The beating wasn’t very forceful, but the children would be in pain for a couple of days. Their skin bruised and became swollen.60 Unprompted, her eight-year-old daughter told Fortify Rights: “They beat me with the wire. They used the wire and beat us with it. It would hurt for three or four days after they beat me.”61 A 14-year-old Rohingya boy, who spent 12 days at sea on board a human-trafficking ship before traffickers sold him back to his community in Rakhine State when his ship was unable to disembark in Thailand or Malaysia, insisted on speaking with Fortify Rights to describe his experience at sea: When we arrived at the big boat, we had to sit in one place. We could not go to the toilet or get drinking water. [The traffickers] beat us. A Burmese man was the captain, and the other men were Rakhine, and they would beat us if we moved from one place to another . . . I saw many people getting sick in the boat. They would get dizzy, fevers, and diarrhea. The Rakhine [traffickers] would beat people if they cried. They would beat us anytime we asked for drinking water. They would kick and hit us . . . Sometimes, they would hit people in the face and blood would come out their nose . . . Once when I got sick on the boat, I wanted to go to the Burmese captain to ask for some medicine, but Rakhine [traffickers] stopped me and beat me on my back. They used a rope to beat me. I now continue to have pain from where I was hit and kicked by the traffickers. I think the injury is internal. I can’t carry anything without being in a lot of pain. I also can’t afford to see a doctor.62 58 Fortify Rights interview with #26, Songkhla Province, Thailand, October 6, 2013. 59 Fortify Rights interview with #50, Bangkok, Thailand, September 23, 2014. 60 Fortify Rights interview with #122, Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 2015. 61 Ibid. This girl offered this unsolicited information while her mother was sharing her experience with Fortify Rights. Fortify Rights did not formally interview the girl. 62 Fortify Rights interview with #120, Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 2015.