It took him 22 years.
Through more than two decades of slavery and other life or death struggles, Burmese fisherman Myint Naing only had one wish: to go home.
Hailing from a small village on Myanmar's Mon State, Naing became the breadwinner of the family at a very young age. After his father met a fatal accident at sea in 1990, the 15-year-old Myint was forced to work for the family. He did a number of odd jobs, from washing clothes and cooking, in order to support his family. No matter what he did, however, his family sunk deeper and deeper into poverty, according to the Associated Press.
Opportunity seemed to knock on his door when a broker visited his neighborhood, promising a lucrative career in Thailand. Offering a salary of around $300 for just a few months' worth of work, his offer was quickly taken by the young Myint, despite reservations from his family.
Little did he know that his departure on that day would be the last he would see of his family for 22 long years.
The harsh reality of the situation hit Myint the moment he was shoved into a boat with a captain that would tell him words that he will never forget.
"You Burmese are never going home. You were sold, and no one is ever coming to rescue you," the captain said, according to MSN News.
Paid only $10 a month if the captain is feeling generous, Myint was trapped in the brutal, deadly world of slave-driven fishing. Working 24-hour days and surviving on boiled sea water and fish guts, he and his fellow fishermen faced death on a daily basis. When he requested to be released after three hard years at sea, he was beaten, a helmet cracking his skull.
He escaped soon after, and in 2001, in order to find a way back home, he tried his luck at sea once more, Metro reported.
The situation at sea was just as bad as before, however, and Myint was once again plunged into the dark world of slavery. When he begged the captain to be sent home, the captain ordered him to be chained to the boat, leaving him to die.
Desperate and fearing for certain death, he was able to pick the lock chaining him to the boat. He jumped overboard and, after much struggle, reached the shore. He went into hiding for years, fearing that if caught, he would be returned to the captain of the ship he worked for previously.
He only went out of hiding earlier this year, when a report by the Associated Press linking slavery in the seafood industry to a number of huge American corporations triggered the Indonesian government to start rescuing current and former slaves in the country. Myint was one of the ones who were rescued.
Finally stepping into his hometown in a country that has changed significantly since he left it more than two decades hence, Myint finally found what he had been yearning for: the embrace of the mother and sister he left all those years ago in order to find greener pastures.
