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Malaysian inquiry probes trafficking camps, migrant graves
KUALA LUMPUR, April 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Malaysian inquiry into the
2015 discovery of suspected human-trafficking camps and graves in the jungle
heard Thursday police found one of the sites months before authorities
publicly revealed their existence.
The public inquiry, which began this week, is examining the conduct of
law enforcement agencies with regard to the discovery of almost 150 graves
and dozens of camps near the Thai border.
Malaysian authorities announced in May 2015 they had uncovered the sites
in the north of the country, about a month after neighbouring Thailand said
it had found bodies of Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladeshis at a makeshift
camp over the border.
The discovery prompted Thai authorities to crack down on traditional sea
routes for illegal migrants coming to the country, triggering a crisis as
people-smugglers dumped hundreds of refugees off the coasts of other
countries and fled.
On Thursday the Malaysian inquiry heard from M. Joeking, a senior police
official charged with guarding the border in part of northern Malaysian, who
said authorities found a camp in January 2015.
After hearing from a colleague about the camp in the jungle, he sent
officers to raid the site in northern Perlis state where they discovered
wooden cages and lookout posts, as well as graves and a stretcher to carry
dead bodies.
His testimony confirmed long-held suspicions that authorities knew about
the camps — where Rohingya and Bangladeshis were held in appalling
conditions after arriving by sea — for months before going public.
Razali Ismail, one of the officials overseeing the inquiry, suggested
the raid was a failure as many migrants fled and police rescued only 38 of
them.
But Joeking responded: “We managed to save 38 people…. We saved lives
and halted the operations of a syndicate.”
The establishment of the inquiry was announced in January, several
months after a corruption-plagued regime was ejected from power by a
reformist alliance.
Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar, who complain of persecution in their
mainly Buddhist homeland, and Bangladeshis for years made the perilous sea
crossing in large numbers to Thailand, from where they usually headed to
Muslim-majority Malaysia.
Arrivals have fallen sharply since the 2015 crackdown.
BSS/AFP/RY/15:50 hrs