“My arms and legs were tied in such a way that it was impossible for me even to change sides without help,” said Jewel, who was abducted and held captive by human traffickers in November last year.

As legal channels for labour migration from Bangladesh have shrunk due to malpractices in the arrangements by both private agencies and the government, desperate jobseekers take dangerous sea route to Malaysia.

Sona Mia has no more tears left to shed. He is now afraid of something ominous coming his son's way.

The voyage that Jewel Barua had made to Thailand on a cargo vessel crammed with several hundred deceived jobseekers tells of a harrowing journey redolent of a time when slave trade was a profitable business across continents.

Teknaf upazila is the south-eastern tip of Bangladesh, a perfect place for boats to set sail in secrecy.

Emran Hossain and Mohammad Ali Zinnat did an extensive investigation into human trafficking from Bangladesh to Malaysia. For over three months, they carried out a thorough research, interviewed trafficking victims, brokers and rights groups, and travelled to the southeastern coastal areas before reporting on the clandestine crime that brings to mind the horror of slave trade of the past.

Promising jobs in Malaysia, transnational human traffickers held about 2.5 lakh Bangladeshis captive in Thailand...