Tragedy in Southeast: Malaysia discovers ‘mass graves of migrants’

Mass graves found near two towns along the Thai border

MALAYSIA/ ALOR SETAR: Malaysia said on Sunday it had found mass graves feared to contain the bodies of Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants at the centre of a regional human-trafficking crisis.

Home Minister Zahid Hamidi was quoted by The Star newspaper's website as saying the graves were found near detention camps run by people-traffickers. “But we don't know how many there are. We are probably going to find more bodies,” Zahid was quoted as saying. The Star said the camps were abandoned when police found them last week.

Police in neighbouring Thailand in early May found secret human-trafficking jungle camps on their side of the border and dozens of shallow graves.

The report quoting Zahid gave few details but the Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia, citing an unnamed source, earlier reported that about 30 mass graves had been found containing ‘hundreds of skeletons’.

The Star, also quoting sources, had said the graves were "believed to contain nearly 100 Rohingya migrants".



Thailand began a crackdown on human trafficking and smuggling following the discovery of its mass graves, which appears to have thrown regional trafficking routes into chaos.

More than 3,500 migrants have swum to shore or been rescued off the coasts of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh since the crisis erupted earlier this month.

Malaysian media said the latest mass graves were found near Padang Besar and Wang Kelian, two towns along the Thai border in the Malaysian state of Perlis.

Police declined to release information but the national police chief will hold a press conference on Monday.

Malaysia's government had previously denied that any such mass graves or slave camps existed on its soil. "I am shocked!" Zahid was quoted by The Star as saying. He added that some of the camps may have been there for as long as five years, and that Malaysian citizens were suspected to have been involved.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2015.