A Thai fishing boat in Andaman SeaNews Source: GHRE
Translated by
Kyaw Thein Kha
8th April, 2009
The two Burmese migrant workers were drowned and died in the sea while they fled, swimming to escape from a Thai fishing boat when it dropped anchor in the sea near Kha Nong jetty in Surat Thani province. The two workers have been working for over two months on the fishing boat, but they did not get paid. The boat has also never gone to the shore. So, the two migrant workers fled from the boat on 4th April, last week. “They have been working for over two months. They didn’t get paid and were not allowed to come to the shore. They fled from the boat because they thought that being alive on the fishing boat is not different from being dead. They didn’t know how to swim well, too. It takes for about one-hour drive to arrive at the fishing boat by speed boat from the shore,” said Ba Than who lived with the victims in the same township in Rakhine State, Burma.
San San whose brother is also working on the fishing boat, said, “My younger brother was left on the boat. He didn’t flee as he could not swim.”
Ba Than and the two victims came to Victoria Point in southern Burma from Rakhine State. Win Hlaing, a motorbike taxi driver in Victoria Point, transferred the two of them into the hands of a Rakhine broker in Ranaung. Then, the two victims were trafficked into the hands of a Thai woman. She has been working there so for about ten years. The brokers in that area negotiate with the police to choose the detainees in the jail to traffic them to the fishing boats. Most of the fishing boats in that area don’t come back to the shores. The boats from the shores have to go to those fishing boats in the sea and bring the collected fish from the boat to the shores.
“The workers,” Ba Than added, “they are not allowed to come to the shores. When they are sick, the boat men kill them and throw the dead bodies into the sea. There is no organization to help us in this area. The NGOs also dare not come to our area. Our security is in the lowest level. The life of a Burmese migrant worker in this area is not even worth as little bird or a chicken.” said Ba Than yesterday, six Rakhine and ten other Mon and Burmese migrant workers were still left, working on that fishing boat from which the two victims fled.
Translated by
Kyaw Thein Kha
8th April, 2009
The two Burmese migrant workers were drowned and died in the sea while they fled, swimming to escape from a Thai fishing boat when it dropped anchor in the sea near Kha Nong jetty in Surat Thani province. The two workers have been working for over two months on the fishing boat, but they did not get paid. The boat has also never gone to the shore. So, the two migrant workers fled from the boat on 4th April, last week. “They have been working for over two months. They didn’t get paid and were not allowed to come to the shore. They fled from the boat because they thought that being alive on the fishing boat is not different from being dead. They didn’t know how to swim well, too. It takes for about one-hour drive to arrive at the fishing boat by speed boat from the shore,” said Ba Than who lived with the victims in the same township in Rakhine State, Burma.
San San whose brother is also working on the fishing boat, said, “My younger brother was left on the boat. He didn’t flee as he could not swim.”
Ba Than and the two victims came to Victoria Point in southern Burma from Rakhine State. Win Hlaing, a motorbike taxi driver in Victoria Point, transferred the two of them into the hands of a Rakhine broker in Ranaung. Then, the two victims were trafficked into the hands of a Thai woman. She has been working there so for about ten years. The brokers in that area negotiate with the police to choose the detainees in the jail to traffic them to the fishing boats. Most of the fishing boats in that area don’t come back to the shores. The boats from the shores have to go to those fishing boats in the sea and bring the collected fish from the boat to the shores.
“The workers,” Ba Than added, “they are not allowed to come to the shores. When they are sick, the boat men kill them and throw the dead bodies into the sea. There is no organization to help us in this area. The NGOs also dare not come to our area. Our security is in the lowest level. The life of a Burmese migrant worker in this area is not even worth as little bird or a chicken.” said Ba Than yesterday, six Rakhine and ten other Mon and Burmese migrant workers were still left, working on that fishing boat from which the two victims fled.
0 comments:
Post a Comment