“There was only one thing on my mind - death. I wanted to die because dying would be easier than living,” said a Rohingya migrant who managed to escape from the transit camp in Wang Kelian.
Speaking exclusively to Bernama in Alor Setar yesterday, Nurul Amin Nobi Hussein, 25, said during the two months he was held at the transit camp in Wang Kelian last year, he lost all hope of surviving and only thought of death.
“I was locked up in a cage like the goats and chickens, and all the time, I was surrounded by death. Each day, five or six of us would die, either from illness or were beaten up and shot,” he said.
He added that the Rohingya migrants were crammed into what could be described as small coops which housed between 200 and 300 people, with the men and women kept in separate cages.
He said about five to six guards who spoke Thai would patrol round the clock, armed with sticks, knives, pistols and rifles, watching the estimated 1,500 people held there.
“The detainees were not allowed to talk. Anyone who talked would be beaten up. The guards often screamed ‘sleep, sleep, sleep,’ ordering us all to sleep, and not talk among ourselves,” he said.
Nurul Amin said the ‘coops’ were surrounded by sticks and built on soft ground, and when it rained, it would become muddy, and the detainees only given plastic covers to sit on.
When it rained, the detainees would stand or sit in the muddy water, causing many to be infected with diseases which led to death, he said.
“Many of the detained Rohingyas suffered swollen legs from sitting too long in the mud, resulting in them not being able to move and eat, and finally died,” Nurul Amin, who was from Maungdaw, Myanmar, said.
He said they were given very little food - rice with some anchovies, and potatoes to keep them from getting hungry, nevertheless, causing many to die of starvation.
Speaking exclusively to Bernama in Alor Setar yesterday, Nurul Amin Nobi Hussein, 25, said during the two months he was held at the transit camp in Wang Kelian last year, he lost all hope of surviving and only thought of death.
“I was locked up in a cage like the goats and chickens, and all the time, I was surrounded by death. Each day, five or six of us would die, either from illness or were beaten up and shot,” he said.
He added that the Rohingya migrants were crammed into what could be described as small coops which housed between 200 and 300 people, with the men and women kept in separate cages.
He said about five to six guards who spoke Thai would patrol round the clock, armed with sticks, knives, pistols and rifles, watching the estimated 1,500 people held there.
“The detainees were not allowed to talk. Anyone who talked would be beaten up. The guards often screamed ‘sleep, sleep, sleep,’ ordering us all to sleep, and not talk among ourselves,” he said.
Nurul Amin said the ‘coops’ were surrounded by sticks and built on soft ground, and when it rained, it would become muddy, and the detainees only given plastic covers to sit on.
When it rained, the detainees would stand or sit in the muddy water, causing many to be infected with diseases which led to death, he said.“Many of the detained Rohingyas suffered swollen legs from sitting too long in the mud, resulting in them not being able to move and eat, and finally died,” Nurul Amin, who was from Maungdaw, Myanmar, said.
He said they were given very little food - rice with some anchovies, and potatoes to keep them from getting hungry, nevertheless, causing many to die of starvation.
