Rohingya refugee Shahab Uddin thought the wooden trawler he boarded in February would be his ticket out of a camp in Bangladesh to a better life in Malaysia.Instead, the voyage nearly killed him.
Libby Hogan reports.
Rohingya tell of death at sea: Hundreds still adrift
Staggering to stand-up, ghostly thin, starving and traumatized - video obtained by Reuters shows Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh after two months stuck at sea.
They thought they were boarding a boat that would be their ticket to a better life in Malaysia, an escape from the crowded Bangadesh camps.
But they never made it.
And many died along the way.
Rohingya refugee Shahab Uddin was one of the almost 400 survivors.
(SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) ROHINGYA SURVIVOR OF BOAT ADRIFT AT SEA, SHAHAB UDDIN, SAYING: "We were 510 in total on the boat including kids.
We ran out of food within five days after we sailed off." Amnesty International says an estimated 800 more people are at sea.
Shahab's boat was organized by traffickers and was turned back from Malaysia before it returned to Bangladesh mid-April.
He was pulled from the water, starving and traumatized.
People were crammed together, unable to move from the rain and scorching sun.
(SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) ROHINGYA SURVIVOR OF BOAT ADRIFT AT SEA, SHAHAB UDDIN, SAYING: "We survived by drinking salty water, they (traffickers) gave us one piece of biscuit and a few drops of water sometimes.
We didn't get any food for many days, women and young people starting to die from the lack of food." More than a million Rohingya live in camps in southern Bangladesh, after they fled from a brutal 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar that the UN (United Nations) says was carried out with genocidal intent.
Although the Rohingya trace their ancestory back for centuries in Myanmar the government denies them citizenship.
As for the boat, Reuters was unable to identify or contact the crew for comment.
Muriel Boursier, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders in Bangladesh, who met survivors later, said many could not walk.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF MISSION FOR DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS IN BANGLADESH, MURIEL BOUSIER, SAYING: "It was physically obvious that they have gone through a lot and they haven't been receiving enough food and drinks before a long period of time.
They were weak, they had difficulty walking, we were carrying most of them to the consultation room." Some survivors also described sexual violence onboard.
The United Nations has implored authorities to let the boats land, but anti-refugee sentiment is surging in Malaysia and governments say borders are sealed to keep out the coronavirus.