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Images from an unfolding tragedy
Exhaustion: People from Myanmar and Bangladesh sprawl on the floor at a camp in Kuala Langsa, East Aceh
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Exhaustion: People from Myanmar and Bangladesh sprawl on the floor at a camp in Kuala Langsa, East Aceh.
The recent exodus of refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia has led to a heartrending drama that has been as perilous as it has been inhumane.
Nearly half of the thousands of refugees who eventually found safe haven in Malaysia and Indonesia have been women, children under 5 or teenagers.
Too many have died crammed aboard boats with limited supplies. Most may not have been aware of the reasons motivating the heartless treatment that they have suffered at the hands of cruel politicians and human traffickers.
In particular, the people from Myanmar have been fleeing from a country that does not acknowledge them as citizens ' and that denies them their rights to employment, education and health care, among other things.
Unable to stand the ordeal, thousands have in the last few years attempted an exodus from Myanmar by extreme means: roaming the seas without any guarantee of a safe arrival at their destinations.
Taking care: A Myanmarese woman tends to her children at a camp in Kuala Langsa, East Aceh.
Gaze: A Myanmarese man rests at a camp in Kuala Langsa, East Aceh.
Overcome: One of the migrants rescued by local fisherman is carried by his compatriots at the port in Kuala Langs, East Aceh.
Family: Two Myanmarese children tend to their younger sibling at a camp in Kuala Langsa, East Aceh.
Long lines: Migrants wait for food and water at a camp in Kuala Cangkoi, North Aceh.
Patience: Women wait for food at a camp in Blang Cangkoi, North Aceh.
' Words and images by JP/Hotli Simanjuntak
