Ahmedullah and Nuran Nahar make another attempt to contact their son from a Bangladesh village.
 
Salim is in a detention centre in Thailand. He and dozens of other asylum seekers were picked up by the Thai navy on route to Malaysia in December last year.

[Nurun Nahar, Detainee Mother]:
"I asked my son not to go. But he didn't listen to me and now he is suffering so much in Thailand."

But Salim is alive — unlike many of the other Rohingyas Muslims he set off with.

[Badiul Alam, Former Asylum Seeker]:
"When we reached the coast of Thailand, we were tortured by the Thai Navy for seven days, which is unexplainable. They removed the engines from our boats and pushed us into the sea."

[Faruqul Alam, Former Asylum Seeker]:
"The Thai navy abandoned us and after 12 days floating in the sea we reached the Andaman Islands. During that time 16 people on the boat died and three others died shortly after we landed, due to a lack of food and drinking water."

The Indian Navy rescued them and they returned to Bangladesh. The local Red Crescent Society says 203 Rohingyas — more than a third of the 583 who set off — died during the trip.

Almost a quarter of a million Muslim Rohingyas are thought to live in Bangladesh. They fled there from Buddhist Myanmar after decades of abuse.

Some try and reach Thailand and the Thai army admits towing them back out to sea and cutting them adrift. But they deny sabotaging boat engines and Thailand's Prime Minister says they are acting within the rules.
 
[Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai Prime Minister]:
"We have a policy of pushing the refugees back. So far, there has been no problem but once we receive the information, we will investigate the situation."

The policy has been condemned by many — but for now Salim's family can only wait and hope.