Rohingya: Thai police seeks information from Malaysia over graves

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ROHINGYA
Thai police seeks information from Malaysia over graves
The nation/agencies
WANG KELIAN, Malaysia

BANGKOK: -- Thai police said yesterday said that they were seeking information related to the discovery from Malaysia to utilise it in their investigation into trafficking of Rohingya and other migrants in parts of Thailand, deputy national chief Pol-General Ake Angsananont said.

MALAYSIAN police said yesterday they had found 139 gravesites and 28 abandoned "detention" camps capable of housing hundreds of people, laying bare the grim extent of the region's migrant crisis.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said authorities were exhuming the remains but it was still unclear how many bodies may lie in the pits, located in a remote and hard-to-reach area of mountainous jungle along the Thai border.

Ake said Thai police were making good progress on the trafficking case and expected to complete it by June. There are now 46 suspects in custody, through surrenders or arrests, plus a further 31 people still sought - after the issuing of warrants to arrest a total of 77 people.

Thai police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung said later the discovery of graves on Malaysian soil was probably linked to trafficking and other abuses endured by migrants in Thailand.

Thai police announced that there were no human trafficking camps left in southern Thailand following a month-long crackdown and the discovery of seven camps in mountainous jungle near the Malaysian border, Reuters reported.

The comments came hours after Malaysian police said they had found 139 graves thought to contain the remains of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh scattered around more than two dozen suspected trafficking camps near the border with Thailand.

Meanwhile, Thai Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn said representatives of 17 countries and relevant international organisations were expected to attend a meeting in Bangkok on Friday, initiated by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, which will discuss the human trafficking problem and seek to find initial measures to tackle it.

Camps, graves 'more extensive'

The findings in Malaysia appeared to indicate a system of jungle camps and graves that dwarfs those found by Thai police in early May, a discovery that ignited regional concern about human smuggling and trafficking.

The discovery also follows repeated denials by top Malaysian officials - who have long been accused by rights groups of not doing enough to address the illicit trade - that such grisly sites existed on their soil.

"[Authorities] found 139 suspected graves. They are not sure how many bodies are inside each grave," Khalid told reporters in the town of Wang Kelian near the Thai border.

"The also found 28 detention camps."

He said authorities were exhuming bodies and would conduct post-mortems, adding that at least one body was "badly decomposed."

So far police have provided no details on what caused the deaths.

The number and size of the camps suggest they may have been capable of housing hundreds of people.

Khalid said the largest could hold up to 300 people, another had a capacity of 100, and the rest could hold about 20 each.

By comparison, Thai police have said they found five secret jungle camps and 35 bodies so far on their side of the border.

A subsequent Thai crackdown appears to have caused nervous traffickers to abandon boats carrying migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar's oppressed Rohingya minority.

Boatloads of starving migrants have since sought to reach Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, and rights groups say thousands more may still be at sea.

After initially turning them away, Malaysia and Indonesia last week bowed to international pressure, saying they would admit boat people pending their repatriation or resettlement elsewhere.

Corruption blamed

Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday he was "deeply concerned" by the discovery in the jungle.

"We will find those responsible," Najib said in comments on his Facebook page.

Earlier in the month he declared "Malaysia does not and will not tolerate any form of human trafficking".

But the revelation is likely to focus new attention on Malaysia's record in battling a scourge that activists say is carried out by criminal syndicates, likely with the complicity of authorities.

"I am sure the authorities at the border know what is going on and who are the criminals. The top authorities must be held responsible," said Aegile Fernandez of the Malaysian labour and migrant-rights group Tenaganita.

"I am sure the police know who are the criminal syndicates. It is whether they have the willpower to stop it."

Anti-trafficking groups say the border region near Wang Kelian is widely known to be a key transit point on a route that funnels migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar into Malaysia and beyond.

Khalid declined to answer when asked how the extensive string of camps had been built without authorities knowing.

However, he said earlier the camps and graves were in rugged areas requiring hours-long hikes to reach.

The US State Department's annual report on human trafficking lists Malaysia on the lowest possible Tier 3, for "countries whose governments do not fully comply with minimum standards (for addressing the problem) and are not making significant efforts to do so."

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thai-police-seeks-information-from-Malaysia-over-g-30260917.html

-- The Nation 2015-05-26

[Strangebrew]

Look you want information on who are the kingpins? Simple hire me to extract what you want got experience from Vietnam Conflict. I'm very good at my job too.

[FangFerang]

"The discovery also follows repeated denials by top Malaysian officials that such grisly sites existed on their soil." and "Khalid declined to answer when asked how the extensive string of camps had been built without authorities knowing."

Malaysia and Thailand cannot lose face over this. They do not have any face left between them. I think the Hawaiians call them "howlies", meaning 'people without souls.'

Its very convenient the crackdown was announced ahead of time, letting the big fish return to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur......

to spawn.

[Eric Loh]

"The discovery also follows repeated denials by top Malaysian officials that such grisly sites existed on their soil." and "Khalid declined to answer when asked how the extensive string of camps had been built without authorities knowing."

Malaysia and Thailand cannot lose face over this. They do not have any face left between them. I think the Hawaiians call them "howlies", meaning 'people without souls.'

Its very convenient the crackdown was announced ahead of time, letting the big fish return to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur......

to spawn.

Big loss of face for Malaysia Home Minister Zahid who just 2 weeks ago arrogantly announced that there are no migrant camps in Malaysia. Always have been the attitude of Thai and Malaysia authorities to deny first and then when proven wrong will do the damage control.

[wabothai]

"hard to reach areas......"

When all these hungry and weak people are able to get to these camps why is it so hard for the army and police of both sides to patrol and control these areas? Now they are meeting?

Smells, doesn't it?

[JAG]

Look you want information on who are the kingpins? Simple hire me to extract what you want got experience from Vietnam Conflict. I'm very good at my job too.

Are you sure that is a boast you really want to make?

[JAG]

Well it comes as no surprise that Malaysia was involved, it was a cross border operation after all.

It doesn't take away Thailands guilt, or the shame.