Trafficking In Person: A Boat Men And Women On Board To Be Trafficked To Malaysia Arrested

Acting on a tip, the border guard police had searched the area near the beach in Myinlut Village and found the boat, stranded and filled with water with 63 passengers and 4 crew members on board.

The passengers and crew members were arrested on Tuesday. The crew members were found in possession of one gun and 99 bullets. During interrogation, it was found that Hamid Tusaung from Bumay Village in Sittway Township, who had been working in Malaysia as a mason since 2012, had returned home after reaching an agreement with a Malaysian human trafficker to smuggle local Muslims into Malaysia.

The trafficker also gave him 3,000 Malaysian Ringitt to serve as an interpreter in the mission. In June, Hamid Tusaung arrived back in Kawthoung by boat after the Malaysian trafficker arranged his trip with Chit Ko, a boat owner, in Kawthoung.

On 25 June, Hamid Tusaung left Thahtay Island in Kawthoung by a boat navigated by Zaw Latt, and they anchored in the Bangladeshi territorial waters near St. Martin Island, also known as Ohn island.

Three days later, Hamid Tusaung  phoned Lubi  and Rawphi  in Taknaf, Bangladesh, and 14 men and 20 women from Kutupalaung, Barlukhali, Musoni, and Htankarli  refugee camps joined him by boat. He also phoned his mother Annawah Baygon, also known as Annuwahphagon, in Bumay  village, Sittway, and she brought 14 men and 13 women from Saythamargyi, Phwetargon, Sakhankwe, Bawmugaw, and Darpein camps for displaced people by boat to him. He set off on the journey to Malaysia by boat after reaching an agreement with 62 Muslims, charging them 1.7 million Kyats per person for the journey.

Around 2 a.m. on 7 July, the boat ran out of fuel, and it drifted to the shore, carried by the waves in severe weather. During interrogation, the four crew members, identified as Zaw Latt, Shwe Latt (a) Kayin, a mechanic, Kyaw Zin Thant, and Kyaw Soe Tun, confessed that they were hired by Chit Ko, the boat’s owner, and were paid Baht 5,000 per person. They said they were sent to a boat named ‘Ta-Aung Soe Kyaw’ anchored off the Thahtay Island.

Under the instructions of Hamid Tusaung, they drove the boat towards Bangladesh, and one gun and 99 bullets were given to Zaw Latt for defending the boat at sea.

Charges have been filed against the four crew members, Hamid Tusaung, and his mother Annawah Baygon, under the human trafficking law at the Ale Thankyaw () Police Station.

A case has also been opened against the four crew and Hamid Tusaung under the Arms Law at the same police station. Chit Ko, the owner of the boat, has been arrested along with drugs in Ranaung, Thailand, by the Thai Royal Police Force. The Myanmar Police Force will exchange information with the respective countries to expose those involved in the human trafficking case.