"I was looking for ways to help my family. This broker knew I was looking for work. He said he could find me a job in Thailand. All I had to do was pay a 12,000 baht fee. There was probably around 700 of us. Old men, teenage girls, everyone. We travelled in a convoy in pick-up trucks. Then we trekked for days through the jungle. There was no food. Some died on the way, others got left behind. When I saw the fishing boats, I realised I’d been sold.
My first day I got so sick I couldn’t work. They hit me and kicked me and tortured me, and they beat me nearly every day after that. Sometimes the captain would scream at me and point his gun in my face. There were 12 of us on the boat and almost all of us had been trafficked.
One night, two guys tried to escape. The skipper caught one, beat him, tortured him and gave him electric shocks. Then he shot him and kicked him into the sea.
Six months passed and I still hadn’t been paid. The captain said my broker’s fee had doubled, so I decided to escape. There was no difference for me any more between life and death. I tied a buoy around my waist and swam towards the lights."
Aung Myo, 29, from Burma spoke to Kate Hodal
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