He was strolling alone on a school holiday in his native Rakhine State in 2007 when he was caught by three drunken soldiers.
They took him to their battalion headquarters, where he was tortured into agreeing to join the army. When darkness fell, he managed to escape from an unlocked hut and ran home in fear to his parents.
They sent him to Thailand, where he found work at a prawn farm. After a few months, he moved to Malaysia, where he was twice arrested. He lived and studied in a refugee camp run for Rakhine people by the Arakan Refugee Relief Committee based in Kuala Lumpur, hoping to return home.
His story was unearthed by writers Maggie Lemere and Zoe West, who interviewed refugees in Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh and the United States during 2009 and 2010. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
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