YANGON - Four Myanmar fishermen who were enslaved on Thai fishing boats and later abandoned on remote Indonesian islands have recounted how they again became trapped on a trawler – this time in their home country.
Last week, following another rescue, they told The Myanmar Times the abuse they had endured in Myanmar was beyond anything they had experienced overseas and called on the government to immediately launch an investigation.
The four fishermen from Kayin State’s Myawady township had ventured to Ah Sin village in Mon State in May this year, where a friend helped them to find work on a local boat.
At first, all seemed to be going well. They found jobs easily enough onboard the Khit Lu Ngal, a vessel owned by an Ah Sin villager. They were promised monthly wages of 100,000 kyat each.
But after plying the Andaman Sea for a month, they realised they were trapped, and had been trafficked once again, they said.
