Somali pirates treated sailors as slaves

Seven Bangladeshi sailors, who were released by Somali pirates after 3-and-half-year of captivity, have said they were treated like slaves. They would be beaten up by the pirates anytime and without any apparent provocation. The pirates took the 7 Bangladeshis hostage in 2010. The sailors returned home on Thursday after their release a week ago. They shared their experiences with journalists during a press conference at Marino hotel in Dhaka’s Uttara yesterday, detailing how they were taken hostage, where they were kept. Officials of foreign ministry and Maritime Piracy and Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP), which helped Bangladesh to secure release of the sailors, were present at the press meet. The officials claimed at the press conference that they managed to free the sailors without paying any ransom to the pirates though that sounded unusual. Twenty-three sailors, including the 7 Bangladeshis, were on the Malaysian ship, MV Al Beda, when it was hijacked in 2010 in the Indian Ocean on its way to Kenya from the United Arab Emirates. Sailor Aminul Islam said three pirates chased their ship firing from AK-47 rifles on a speedboat. They used a steel ladder to climb on to the ship, he added. He said the pirates started to contact families of the hostages after five months. After severe torture, the captors used to make the sailors talk to their families over phone, he added. The sailors said much of their time as hostage was spend on the ship but later they were shifted to Amara island in Somalia, according to bdnews24.com.