KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — Putrajaya must stop denying Malaysia’s alleged complicity in human trafficking and formulate strict policies that could put an end to the activity, a DAP lawmaker said today following the recent discovery of mass graves in Perlis with hundreds of dead Bangladeshis and Rohingya immigrants.
Klang MP Charles Santiago said the gruesome find proves Malaysia’s involvement in human trafficking, despite the Home Ministry’s claim earlier this month that investigations have not turned up any evidence of such graves on Malaysian soil.
“It’s an open secret that immigration officers are on the take from traffickers and even from fleeing refugees or desperate migrant workers,” Santiago alleged in a statement here.
“The government must seriously look at the systemic reforms and strategies that must be put in place to curb the trafficking trade.
“And there must also be regional cooperation between the Asean member countries as well,” he added.
Earlier today, local police confirmed that a total of 139 grave sites and 28 human trafficking camps have been discovered in a remote part of Malaysia’s northern borders.
The confirmation follows a report last weekend in Utusan Malaysia that said the authorities had in mid-May discovered at least 30 graves in Perlis, containing the corpses of hundreds of immigrants.
Santiago accused Putrajaya of deliberately keeping the find quiet in hopes of washing its hands off the responsibility of protecting victims of the illegal human trade.
“According to the law, Malaysia has a duty to protect and house the victims of trafficking, who number in the tens of thousands.
“So maybe Malaysia’s denial is to shirk this responsibility,” the DAP federal lawmaker said.
In Utusan Malaysia’s report on Sunday, it was said that the graves found in forests in Padang Besar and Wang Kelian, are believed to be linked to the mass graves found previously in Songkhla, Thailand, from which Thai authorities had exhumed 26 bodies likely to be of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The newspaper also reported that several foreigners and local villagers were arrested under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 on suspicion of bringing in the migrants.
A source told Mingguan Malaysia that some among the villagers arrested comprised businessmen from Wang Kelian who were desperate to find a source of income following a drop in tourism because of the enforcement of passport controls for border crossings.
After the report, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was quoted in Bernama as confirming the find and that police were still identifying the bodies.
He added that each grave could contain up to four bodies.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak vowed that hunt down those responsible for the gravesites found in Perlis.
