Dhaka: Yasmin is a Rohingyan mother of four who sees no future for her and her young family in Myanmar. Like others in the dusty camp she lives in, the 27-year-old has no citizenship rights in the country by virtue of her religion and heritage.

Earlier this year Yasmin arranged for a people smuggler to take her and her children, all aged under 12, under the cover of darkness to a small fishing boat waiting for them just outside the camp, reported the Channel NewsAsia.

From there they were transported to a larger boat waiting out at sea, which was meant to take them to Thailand before a journey to Malaysia where she planned to meet her husband, who fled three years ago.

That boat was their home for the next two months. And it went nowhere. ‘They gave us one handful of rice and two fried chillies every day,’ she said. ‘Sometimes they gave the children dry noodles, but it’s not enough and they cry.’

‘Then the crew beat the children and put cigarettes out on their skin when they cried,’ she said while showing the burn scars on her youngest child’s back.

She said the boat waited offshore for 350 people to climb aboard, but the crew then announced that the situation in Thailand meant they could not travel further. Those onboard including Yasmin, who had agreed to pay US$3,000 to the smugglers when they reached their destination, were forced to disembark, paying about US$200 instead for the failed venture.

‘An indication of desperation’

With the monsoon season officially ending Wednesday (Oct 28) and the country’s vote less than two weeks away, a mass exodus from the camps and villages in the northern state is looming.

Drier weather means the smuggling operations could re-commence, transporting fleeing Rohingyas, identified by the Myanmar government as Bengalis, by boat to other countries, often Thailand and Malaysia. Thousands have died at sea undertaking the risky journey, which can often take months on overcrowded vessels.

Yasmin is one of thousands of Rohingyas living in internally-displaced persons (IDP) camps along the Rakhine coastline, where local leaders admit that people smugglers are well known to be living among the community.

Her home, Say Thar Mar Gyi camp outside Sittwe, was a hotspot for boats departing towards the Andman Sea earlier this year, prompting what was dubbed by regional governments as the Southeast Asian migrant crisis.

‘Everyone knows who the smugglers are but the authorities don’t take any action,’ said Aung Win, a Rohingya community leader.

‘Local people don’t pay at first, instead they’re given money to buy snacks, but when they reach Thailand the smugglers start demanding money,’ he said. ‘Many people can’t pay and a lot died over there.’

Experts believe it is likely to re-emerge as a major issue in the coming months. ‘The situation for the Rohingya has not changed significantly over the past two years,’ aid Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch Asia division deputy director.

Rohingyan people have lived segregated from the Rakhine Budhhist community since deadly sectarian violence rocked the state in 2012. Muslims living outside Sittwe are under constant military and police guard and are barred from leaving the compound or voting in the upcoming election.

‘You still have them confined in internally-displaced persons camps without access to livelihoods, to basic medical and education services, dependent on the international community for provision of food and other basic necessities,’ Robertson said.

‘The reason we saw so many people flee the country by boat last year is an indication of the desperation, a lack of hope that the Rohingya have that they will find a place in Burma and that their rights will be respected. Without that kind of hope we will continue to see boats leaving the country.’

Ready to sail again

As she endures further hardships back in Myanmar, Yasmin said she will attempt the journey again as soon as the country’s general elections are over and boats are setting sail once more.

‘The election is coming but I’m afraid of what might happen. Even if I die in Thailand, it’s ok, I won’t stay here. The children don’t know about the situation but they are always crying for more food and they miss their father,’ she said.

Others may join her as well, but most people are living in uncertainty until they get a full picture of their future, possibly under a new leadership in Myanmar.

‘If fortune is in my favour,’ Yasmin said, looking down towards her children sitting beside her. ‘I will have a better life when I leave here.’