A Rohingya young woman was staying with her family under a tarpaulin roof at the Balukhali (Camp-9) refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar. On the night of 3 April, she got married via mobile phone to a young man residing in Malaysia. On the morning of 5 April, the young woman was handed over to a broker to be sent to him. She was kept with several other Rohingya women in a room in the hill of Kachhapia in Baharchhara, Teknaf. In the dead of night on Monday, they were taken to a trawler via the Kachhapia beach. The trawler, carrying 214 passengers, was intercepted by the Navy in the deep Bay of Bengal, west of Saint Martin Island, in the afternoon on Tuesday.
On Wednesday morning, the young woman and other detained passengers were handed over to the Teknaf police station. Later, the rescued individuals spoke to Prothom Alo in the police compound. They were lured by traffickers with promises of good jobs and marriages to suitable partners, and were brought aboard the boat.
The young Rohingya woman, who had been trying to reach her husband, said that her family had been living in the Balukhali refugee camp for over seven and a half years. She lived in the tarpaulin shelter with her parents, two sisters, and three brothers. After learning of a suitable match in Malaysia, her parents agreed to marry her off to him. She had never met the person with whom she was married via mobile phone. Nevertheless, following his advice, she was traveling to Malaysia along with others by boat. Her family had spent nearly Tk 50,000 to get her aboard the boat. After being caught by the Navy, she realized that what she was doing was wrong.
According to a press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate, on Tuesday, the Navy’s ship Durjoy conducted an operation 44 nautical miles southwest of Saint Martin Island and seized a trawler named FB Kulsuma carrying 214 passengers.
Among them were 118 men, 68 women, and 28 children. The boat and detainees were handed over to the Coast Guard on Saint Martin Island. Initial investigations revealed that the passengers were being trafficked illegally to Malaysia by fishing trawler.
The boat, which lacked life-saving equipment, adequate food, water, and safety measures, had left the Shaplapur beach in Teknaf on the night of 7 April, heading for Malaysia. According to Lieutenant Commander Salahuddin Rashid Tanvir of the Teknaf Coast Guard Station, the 214 passengers were brought to Shah Porir Dwip jetty in Teknaf by two trawlers and handed over to the police on Wednesday morning.
The Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, said that 12 of the detained Rohingyas were involved in various criminal activities and legal action was being taken against them. He also said that the remaining Rohingya men, women, and children were handed over to the camp.
After abduction, passengers were taken to trawler
Among the rescued passengers was a driver from the Kotbazar area of Ukhiya. In addition to driving a car, he sometimes would drive an auto-rickshaw (tom-tom) in the area. Recalling his sea voyage to Malaysia, he said that on the third day of Eid-ul-Fitr, 2 April, he set out with his auto-rickshaw. Two men hired his vehicle from Kotbazar and instructed him to drive towards Marine Drive. After reaching a secluded area, they stopped the rickshaw, held him at gunpoint, and forced him to travel to the Kachhapia hill in Teknaf. He was locked in a shack with 20-25 other men and women for four days. On the night of 7 April, he was forcibly taken to the boat.
Sub-inspector Helal Uddin, stationed at the Shah Porir Dwip police outpost, said that the traffickers had lured the Rohingya women and men with promises of good jobs and marriages to suitable partners in Malaysia. Many women were married off via mobile phones. The traffickers took Tk 30,000-50,000 from each of the men and women.
Multiple trafficking rings were active, transporting the Rohingya women, men, and children out of the camps, putting them in vehicles, and eventually taking them to boats. The boat was supposed to cross the Saint Martin coastline and Myanmar's maritime border, then reach Thailand. From there, the passengers were promised to be sent to Malaysia.