Bangladeshi couple spot abducted son in photograph of Indonesian camp

A Bangladeshi couple say they have spotted the son they had long given up for dead, emaciated but still alive, in an Indonesian camp for boat migrants shown in a newspaper photograph.

Parents spot lost son in media photographs of Rohingya crisis

Migrants queue up for food at a temporary shelter in Bayeun, Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, May 25, 2015. Source: AP

"I am 100 percent sure that it is him," said Selina Akhtar, mother of Mohammad Sabbir Hasan, as she held up a copy of Kalerkantha, a Bangladeshi daily which published the picture taken by the AFP news agency.

She and husband Mohammad Hasanur Rahman have asked the government to help bring their son back from Indonesia.

Thousands of people, mostly Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladeshis, have been trying to slip into Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia for years through a people-smuggling network. Some have paid huge sums to board fishing boats while some others have been trafficked, their families say.

Rahman said his 23-year-old son went missing a year ago from the Bangladeshi port of Cox's Bazar, where he had gone with friends to celebrate the Bangla New Year.

He said people in the area told him his son was among several who were forced into boats and taken away.

Mass graves and suspected human-trafficking detention camps have been discovered by Malaysian police in towns and villages bordering Thailand.

Bangladesh's junior minister for foreign affairs, Mohammad Shahriar Alam, said the government would bring back all its citizens in camps in southeast Asia and assured Rahman of his full support.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world