Source: Phuket Wan
PHUKET: Rohingya fleeing ethnic cleansing and starvation in Burma are driving a surge in business for people traffickers on the Thai border with Malaysia.
The would-be refugees, who arrive by boat, are imprisoned in primitive conditions until someone pays for their passage across the border into Malaysia.
Recently, the people smugglers’ fees have risen to the equivalent of 50,000 baht or even 60,000 baht per person. Brokers have been chasing ”investors” in a widening circle, even on Phuket or in Bangkok.
If the fee is not met, Rohingya are usually indentured to work on fishing trawlers for up to 12 months to pay off their broker bond the hard way.
Virtually all authorities on both sides of the Thailand-Malaysia border take a cut from the fee. The broker usually only pockets 10,000 baht per person as profit.
Categories: Asia, Burma, Burmese Muslims, Myanmar, Prayers For Peace