Video shows smugglers beating Rohingya refugees on boat during failed attempt to flee Bangladesh

Enamul Hasan, a 19-year-old Rohingya refugee who tried to reach Malaysia from Bangladesh, has provided a video to AFP that shows passengers being beaten by a trafficker on a boat. Hasan’s story highlights part of a human trafficking network that targets Rohingya refugees. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017, after the Burmese army launched a deadly crackdown on the ethnic minority group. Living in overcrowded refugee camps, many see the relatively affluent Malaysia as their final destination. This desire to escape has also let to a rise in demand for human trafficking services.