Migrants beaten with metal batons at sea for asking for food or to use toilet on boat

MIGRANT children trapped on boats were beaten with metal batons for asking to use the toilet, it has emerged.

\Rohingya migrants are pictured on a boat off the southern Thai island of Koh Lipe in the Andaman Sea

The desperate cargo of refugees fleeing war and persecution were subjected to hours of humiliation and torture aboard leaking vessels.

Amnesty International has warned of “chilling” abuse of girls as young as 15, with one victim’s father forced to listen on the phone as the crew assaulted her.

Many were ordered to pay huge sums of money - sometimes more than £1,000 - to be allowed to leave the boat and then were thrown overboard to their deaths if they did not pay.

he harrowing accounts detail the plight of the Rohingya who are escaping persecution in Myanmar. 

Amnesty conducted interview with more than 100 refugees who endured the abuse in May

Anna Shea, Refugee Researcher at Amnesty International, said: “The daily physical abuse faced by Rohingya who were trapped on boats in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea is almost too horrific to put into words. 

“They had escaped Myanmar, but had only traded one nightmare for another. Even children were not spared these abuses.”

Hundreds have lost their lives in the seas off the coast of Myanmar.

UN estimates put the death toll at 370 but Amnesty said the true number was likely to be far higher. 

Many Rohingya told the charity that they had seen crew members kill people when their families failed to pay ransoms. 

Rohingya migrants bring back food supplies dropped by a Thai army helicopter

n overladen boat packed with refugees

Some were shot by the traffickers on the boats while others were thrown overboard and left to drown. 

A lack of food and water and disease claimed more lives, the report found. 

People were beaten with metal or plastic batons – sometimes for several hours at a time – simply for begging for food, moving or asking to use the toilet, and many have been left with long-term physical or psychological scars from the violence.

One 15-year old Rohingya boy said: “In the morning you were hit three times. In the afternoon you were hit three times. At night you were hit nine times.” 

Rations usually consisted of a small cup of rice per day and many of the Rohingya who reached Indonesia were emaciated, had difficulty walking after being cramped for so long, and suffered from dehydration, malnourishment, bronchitis, and flu.

Amnesty is now calling on governments in southeast Asia to act to prevent another human rights disaster at sea.

This is a REAL asylum seeker: Boko Haram girl tells of miracle escape from Islamic psychos

A SCHOOLGIRL kidnapped to become a jihadi wife has spoken of her terror as she fled through blood-filled streets as terrorists waged a massacre in her town.

The Nigerian army have had to fight hard to regain villages and towns taken by Boko Haram

Victoria Youhana watched in horror as men had their heads hacked off with knives or were shot at point-blank range if they refused to join the ranks of soldiers from the notorious militant Islamist group Boko Haram in Nigeria.

"The noise, the smell, the sound of gunshots and the sights of men you have always seen around your town being killed in front of you is something you never get over," said 15-year-old Victoria.

With her hair woven into pretty plaits, an easy smile and beads around her neck, to the casual observer, she looks like any other teenager on the cusp of adulthood.

But as she recalls the horrors she's seen, pain flits across her eyes. It was destined to be a normal January day in Baga, which lies in the north east Borno State, as Victoria's mother Anna, gently woke her children as she got ready for work at around 6am.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk through an interpreter, Victoria, who is not an asylum seeker but in the UK to share her experiences of Boko Haram, said: "It was all fine until we heard the sound of bombs and gunfire.

"We were terrified - everyone knows about Boko Haram, even little children of five.

"We knew they kidnapped women, turned them into slaves and forced them to marry the fighters while Christians were shot or beheaded if they refused to convert to Islam. We had to get away quickly."

Rounding up her younger brothers aged ten, seven, five, three and two, Victoria and her mother left everything behind and fled from their homes, running for their lives.

The noise, the smell, the sound of gunshots and the sights of men you have always seen around your town being killed in front of you is something you never get over

Victoria Youhana

Rounding up her younger brothers aged ten, seven, five, three and two, Victoria and her mother left everything behind and fled from their homes, running for their lives.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian soldiers who had been drafted in to protect the area, had either been killed or dropped their weapons and run after facing a massive onslaught from the extremists who were armed with grenades, machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.

Victoria and her family were forced to dash around corpses strewn across roads turned into rivers of blood during the massacre which saw up to 2,000 people murdered and is described as the deadliest attack since Boko Haram began its campaign of violence in 2010.

However, as they made their getaway, they were confronted by the extremists who seized the family and marched them at gunpoint towards a group of other dispirited prisoners, mostly women and children, forcing them on a long trek to the Lawanti area of the town of Kukawa near Lake Chad.

Victoria said they were herded like cattle into a compound and did not know if they would be raped or killed.

She said: "We didn't know what was going to happen to us.

"The men who refused to become Boko Haram fighters were shot and killed.

"After a few days, the children were all rounded up for Islamic teaching and me and the other teenage girls were told we would be married to Boko Haram fighters."

Victoria said they were all well aware what had happened to the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok in 2014 where the Christian girls were forced to become boko haram or became jihadist wives in an outrage which sparked condemnation from across the world from such high profile figures as the actress Angelina Jolie.

It also sparked a social media campaign #bringbackourgirls

"We knew they were impregnated or infected with disease. We were so scared we couldn't sleep.

"We'd nod off before jerking awake, back into this nightmare.

"Sometimes we were fed scraps of food and sometimes we got nothing at all. Terrified and hungry, that's what it was like. It was a prison camp."

After 13 days, and with grim determination, Anna declared her children were not going to endure the fate of the Chibok girls and in hushed whispers, hatched a plan to escape.

During the night, while the terrorists were on another marauding mission, they crept out of the camp.

Victoria said: "We were terrified of being discovered and just kept going, walking through the dark forest, trying to be quiet, all the while afraid we'd be caught and killed."

For seven hours, Victoria, her mother and the little boys trudged through the undergrowth, using overhead power cables to guide them to a town.

Hundreds of Nigerians now live in refugee camps after they fled Boko Haram

As they were walking they were spotted by soldiers, and their initial terror turned to tears of joy when they realised they were government troops who gleefully transported them to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

The traumatised family were taken into the custody of the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri, where they were fed, clothed and housed under the kind genorousity of the Bishop, the Most Reverend Oliver Dashe.

Victoria and her siblings were also provided with trauma counselling to help them come to terms with what had happened.

A devout Christian, Victoria said it was her faith that helped her throughout the ordeal.

She said: "We prayed to God daily and he helped us escape.

"I am now moving on with my life now and looking forward to getting back to school."

Victoria has been brought to the UK by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need as part of its Persecuted and Forgotten project which aims to highlight the suffering of people persecuted for their religion.

John Pontifex, spokesman for the charity, said: "Victoria's family are determined that as many people as possible hear about the crimes being committed by Boko Haram."

Father Gideon Obasogie, communications director for the Diocese of Maiduguri, who has accompanied Victoria on her short trip to the UK, said: "Boko Haram has become an enemy of humanity, willing to kill anything from humans - both Christians and Muslims - to small animals drinking water. The world needs to wake up to the threat of extremists. They are against life."

Woman who sent husband saucy Snapchat pics accused of CHEATING after he spotted one thing

A WOMAN who sent her husband a series of raunchy lingerie snaps on Snapchat was rumbled when the pictures revealed photos of another man's BOOTS.

What were these men's boots doing in this hotel room?

The wife, known only as Chelsea, took saucy pictures of herself wearing a bra and panties and sent them to her unnamed husband using the picture sharing phone app.

The first picture showed her posing in black underwear with the message: "Hotel room! Going to sleep soon."

No sign of boots in this picture

"Stop lying Chelsea, I know you're not alone in that hotel room," he replied.

Chelsea shot back "Yes I am!" before saying she would "never cheat" on her husband.

He replied: "Then why the f*** are there MEN'S BOOTS in your second snapchat. I can't go through this again. I'm calling a lawyer."

Stop lying Chelsea

Husband

he second picture showed Chelsea standing up and posing from behind - however, a pair of men's boots was seen clearly on the floor near her.

The series of photos were published on US website The Chive.

But some have questioned their authenticity with a number of social media users dismissing the cheating scandal, photos and subsequent text messages as "fake"

ISIS conducts more executions of men for being gay

On June 3, 2015, Islamic State (ISIS) operatives in Iraq's Ninveh province published photos of a public execution in Mosul of three men convicted of acts of homosexuality.The three men were blindfolded and dropped head first from the roof of a tall building in front of a large crowd of spectators, including children.

Children watch as a lion is dissected at a Danish zoo - WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Dozens of zoo spectators cover their noses from the stench as a young male lion's bloody organs are shown to "educate" the crowd.

Church leader guilty of funneling $35 million to wife's pop music career

SINGAPORE –  The founder of a popular Singapore church has been found guilty of misappropriating about $35 million in donations to support his wife's singing career in Asia before helping her break into the U.S. market for evangelization purposes.

Kong Hee, the founder and senior pastor of City Harvest Church, was found guilty Wednesday with five other church leaders of stealing 24 million Singapore dollars ($17 million) designated for building and investment-related purposes through sham bond investments. The State Court also found that they used another 25 million dollars ($18 million) to hide the first embezzlement from auditors.

No date for sentencing has been set yet. The penalty for criminal breach of trust is a maximum of life sentence.

Pilot killed as US fighter jet F-18 crashes near RAF base in Suffolk

A US fighter jet has crashed near a RAF base in England killing the pilot.

The FA-18 Hornet from the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 came down a couple of miles away from the Suffolk base on Wednesday morning.

Cambridgeshire Police confirmed that one person had been killed in the crash.

There are reports the plane encountered problems with refuelling shortly before the crash, but a spokeswoman for the US Marine Corps said she could not confirm this.

She told the Press Association: “We don’t know at this time if the pilot ejected from the aircraft. It is a one-seater aircraft so no one else was in it.” The squadron is based in California.

A spokesman from the US Embassy in London confirmed that the pilot died in the crash.

Emergency services were sent to the scene near the Cambridgeshire/Suffolk border.

“Emergency services are currently at the scene of a plane crash on farmland in Redmere, Ely,” a Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said.

“The military aircraft which had taken off from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk came down at about 10.30am this morning.

“We can confirm one fatality and believe there was just one person on board the aircraft.” Matthew Barzun, the US ambassador to Britain, tweeted: “Have received update on this news. Tracking situation closely. We’re grateful for everyone’s concern.” The crash comes just over a year after an American fighter based at Lakenheath crashed near a school in Lincolnshire.

The F-15 fighter jet from the US Air Force’s 48 Fighter Wing crashed in fields near Spalding in early October 2014.

The pilot ejected safely, sustaining only minor injuries, and no one on the ground was hurt.