Fishermen, shopkeepers and policemen were all drawn in, as participants or observers, to a multimillion-dollar people smuggling business.
Written by ELLEN BARRY
The New York Times - JULY 23, 2015
SHAH PORIR DWIP, Bangladesh — From his shop overlooking a pier on this island near the border with Myanmar, Mohammad Hossain watched the human smuggling business swell. Over the years, the trickle gradually grew into an unending stream. The late-night flashes of light on the water, signaling that the coast was clear to launch boats, multiplied until they looked like summer lightning. That the boats were not carrying fish was an open secret here: One day, when a trawler sank on its way out, the water was littered with human bodies. The people of Shah Porir Dwip — fishermen, shopkeepers, police officers and shadowy bosses — were all drawn in, as participants or concerned observers, to a multimillion-dollar people smuggling business that sent roots deep into this impoverished corner of Bangladesh. Continue reading the main story Related Coverage Jubair, 13, was left behind when his mother and siblings fled Myanmar for Malaysia. “I didn’t know about it,” he said. “She could not find me. She could not tell me.” A Migrant Mother’s Anguished ChoiceJULY 5, 2015 Oma Salema, 12, holding her undernourished brother, Ayub Khan, 1, in Sittwe Camp. Myanmar to Bar Rohingya From Fleeing, but Won’t Address Their PlightJUNE 12, 2015 Malaysia offers at least some modicum of opportunity for Rohingya migrants. Rohingya gathered at an apartment block in Kuala Lumpur that is home to several families. Even in Safety of Malaysia, Rohingya Migrants Face Bleak ProspectsJUNE 3, 2015 Rohingya migrants with airdropped food. A boat carrying them and scores of others, including young children, was found floating in Thai waters; passengers said several people had died. Rohingya Migrants From Myanmar, Shunned by Malaysia, Are Spotted Adrift in Andaman SeaMAY 14, 2015 The outside world came to know of the smuggling this spring, through a series of awful revelations. Shallow graves were discovered in makeshift camps in Thailand, near the Malaysian border, where smugglers abused and starved their captives, demanding as much as $3,000 from their families for their release. Boats were abandoned in the middle of the ocean, packed with people on the edge of starvation.
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