Arakan News Agency
Five years have passed since Hla Hla Sein was forced to flee to rudimentary camps in western Myanmar for the Rohingya Muslims, where disease and deprivation spread, surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.
“We have no idea for how many years we should live like this,” said the 40-year-old widow in a small bamboo hut she shared with her son. “Our lives are worse than animals … we are only human by name.”
The deadly violence in 2012 led to the displacement of more than 120,000 Rohingya to the camps in Arakan state, where they live in dilapidated homes without adequate food, schools or doctors.
For years, traffickers have benefited from the desperation of this group and have transported thousands of Rohingyas across the Andaman Sea to countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
These trips have been marked by the risk of cruising deep-sea boats to abuse and even death by gangs, who have detained many victims for ransom in remote camps on the Thai-Malaysian border.
The Thai authorities shut down this route in 2015, and a few refugees have survived since then, according to the population, aid workers and immigration experts.
The move may have contributed to Hla Hla Sein’s death at sea or ill-treatment by smugglers, but it has witnessed a painful exit.
Hla Hla Sein and her son tried to flee to Malaysia before the campaign, but their boat was too crowded and began to drown, forcing the captain to return. “I was ready to die at sea because we have nothing in this country,” she said. “Our children can not get education, so I can not work, I thought death would be better.”
