The long road to Malaysia

Many of the Rohingya escaping Myanmar by boat have fallen into the hands of human traffickers at sea, who then hold them hostage in remote Thai camps until relatives pay thousands of dollars to release them, according to a Reuters investigation published on Dec 5.

Some were beaten and killed, others held in cages where they suffered malnutrition.

The Rohingya pictured above are among many rescued from traffickers in Thailand, where police announced a new campaign against the human trade this year, although the officer in charge said hundreds of recently rescued people could end up back in the hands of smugglers.

Now, accounts given to Reuters suggest that trafficking gangs are shifting their operations into Malaysia as Thai authorities crack down on their jungle camps near the border.

At least 30,000 Rohingya already live in Malaysia, and it is seen as a land of opportunity by many members of the persecuted community.

The country does not give them full refugee rights, but has allowed them to stay and register with the United Nations - the men pictured above are waiting for a card issued by the UN refugee agency.

Although life might not be easy, thousands have picked up work at the bottom rungs of the informal economy.

But reaching Malaysia can come at a great cost.

Mohamed Einous (pictured above, centre) is a 19-year-old Rohingya who fled Myanmar in hopes of better opportunity abroad.

His dreams were short-lived. After scrambling over a border wall along with hundreds of other refugees, the group was handed to a new gang of brokers in Malaysia, packed into vans and driven to a house with blacked-out windows.

Once there, the traffickers beat Einous and threatened to kill him if he did not secure a payment of $2,000 from his parents in Myanmar. Distraught at Einous' cries over the telephone, his parents sold their family home for $1,600 and borrowed the rest from relatives, Einous said.

"There are no words to express how sorry I feel," he told Reuters.

"Now we don't have land. My parents have nowhere to live."