Held to ransom Rohingya face exploitation at the hands of traffickers

Even as dehydration was getting to their passengers, the traffickers using boats to carry hundreds of Rohingya away from refugee camps in Bangladesh thrust phones into their hands and demanded they ask their relatives for money.

- Kaamil Ahmed, Verena Hölzl

It was only after 28-year-old Rehana Begum's relatives had paid almost $2,500 to the traffickers that they agreed to continue their journey, but a few days later, still onboard the boat, she fell unconscious and later died from dehydration.

Death, abuse and torture are common features of the journeys provided by a growing network of traffickers.

They offer an escape from deteriorating conditions in Bangladesh refugee camps, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya - a mostly Muslim ethnic minority were forced to flee after being expelled from Myanmar.

Rohingya trafficking victims and their families told the Guardian of being held at sea or in jungles until their families make payments, while many end up missing, imprisoned or die along the way.

Ransoms of almost $4,000 can be demanded by the traffickers once refugees have begun journeys from Bangladesh to south-east Asia, where they believe they can live and work more freely.

Women, many of whom are being trafficked for marriage in Malaysia to Rohingya men, are vulnerable to sexual violence at the hands of traffickers.