Two migrant workers, Aung Myint Naing and Mg Thu Marm from Nwarr Ru Toung village, Rakhaing State, were sold to the captain of a fishing boat at Zali Chai port in Samu Sakhon, Thailand by a woman posing as a man. They will eventually be working in Thailand, even though they could have safely worked anywhere in Myanmar.
“Ko Lin, the exploiter, convinced us to get a job at Zali Chai Port. She left us and then sold to slavery at the Port. She took 4000 baht from boat owner,” Mg Bo Thu Marn said to Arakan Times.
The men don’t know for how many years they must work on the boat without wages. Mg Bo Thu Marn added “The owner threatens that he will possibly kill us and throw our remains into the ocean if we can’t work. Therefore, we must work hard even though the work is so tiring. We don’t know yet when we can go back to the shore”
They now worry that they may be sold again to other owners after working on the first boat, and they don’t know how to escape from their exploitation.
Ko Lin has been selling many migrant workers who hunt jobs in Thailand, according to Democratic Karen Buddha Army (DKBA) officials. Ko Lin was arrested by DKBA on March 14, 2012, for human trafficking.
“Now DKBA threatened Ko Lin with death unless she can reveal the exploited migrant workers,” a DKBA officer, on condition of anonymity, told Arakan Times.
The DKBA has called for NGOs and CBOs working on Myanmar issues from within Thailand, to work to prevent human trafficking from happening among the Myanmarese migrant workers in Thailand.
