By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysian forensic teams searched gravesites for suspected human trafficking victims Tuesday as police announced the discovery of one body near the border with Thailand.
A director at the Internal Security and Public Order Department told reporters that the only body recovered from the area where 139 suspected graves were found in northern Perlis state had not been exhumed from a burial site. The remains were discovered within a hut, according to Muhammad Fuad Abu Zarim.
"The body was highly decomposed and blackened. It was sent to the forensic unit for further tests,” he said, refuting earlier reports that it was discovered in a dismembered state.
"At this point, we have not ascertained the gender of the deceased but believe the person could have died between three and four weeks ago," he added, according to the Malaysian Insider.
Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced Tuesday that initial investigations found that Malaysian enforcement officers had collaborated with traffickers with international links spanning Thailand, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
“We suspect some of them. We are also working with the Forestry Department, in terms of enforcement at the boundary between Thailand and Malaysia,” he told reporters.
"They [forestry department] are supposed to enforce the area... But, I still need to discuss this matter with the minister concerned,” he said, adding that police would be arresting some suspects. He, however, declined to name any.
On Monday, the country’s police chief announced the discovery of 139 gravesites - some believed to hold more than one body - at 28 human trafficking camps in Padang Besar town.
Padang Besar is believed to have served as a resting point for traffickers transporting migrants by boat from Myanmar - most of them Muslim Rohingya - and Bangladesh.
Earlier this month, the bodies of more than 30 migrants were discovered in southern Thailand, prompting a crackdown that led to smugglers fleeing and boatloads of the migrants then turning up on Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian shores, while thousands more remained at sea.
Malaysian security forces have found camps of different sizes, with the largest capable of accommodating 300 people and another 100, while the others could hold 10 to 20 people or less.
The presence of cooked food items at some camps appeared to suggest they had been abandoned recently.
Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters Monday that security forces usually did not patrol the hilly area, but began to focus there after Thai police found gravesites across the border and began exchanging intelligence with Malaysian counterparts.
A source from the prime minister’s office who wished to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak with media had told Anadolu Agency earlier that Prime Minister Najib Razak – who was visiting Japan - was receiving updates on the ongoing investigation.
The source said Razak had instructed Hamidi to work with his Thai counterpart to resolve the issue, and that if their efforts were unsuccessful, the prime ministers of both countries are expected to meet to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile, The Star Online cited Perlis police chief Shafie Ismail as saying security had been heightened along the border with Thailand.
Thousands of migrants began beaching on Indonesian and Malaysian shores after Thailand launched a crackdown on human trafficking in its southern region May 1. The countries responded by taking in some of the boats, before their navies began turning the vessels back to sea after providing them with food and water – drawing the criticism of rights groups.
However, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed last week to shelter the Rohingya for one year, while repatriating the Bangladeshis. International organizations believe that thousands of migrants remain adrift in Southeast Asia waters.
In Thailand, the junta chief-cum-prime minister ordered Monday the deployment of a landing ship to rescue migrants adrift on the Andaman Sea after refusing to open temporary shelters. The country’s air force will also operate patrols over the sea to spot vessels and help coordinate rescue operations.
The country will host a regional meeting on the crisis this Friday that will be attended by senior officials from Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Australia and the U.S. are expected to send observers.
