Authorities did not patrol hilltop, says Wan Junaidi after migrant mass graves found

WANG KELIAN, May 29 — Enforcement officers did not “go to the top of the hill” during their routine patrols as they did not find it necessary to do so, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said.

Those manning the Malaysia-Thailand border did not comb the hills as “there was normally no human activity there”, he told reporters yesterday.

“There was no necessity to check the hilltop. The security officers would only patrol the foot of the hills.

“There was no access, no movement at the hilltop. So there is no reason to go up.”

The graves and human trafficking camps were located some 1.5km from the foot of the hills in Bukit Wang Burma accessible only after a three-hour trek.

Following the gruesome discovery, Wan Junaidi said the authorities combed the 48km long border in Perlis and did not find similar camps and grave sites elsewhere.

He said the ministry was studying a proposal to build walls along the border but this would depend on the availability of funds.

Wan Junaidi clarified that there was only one body in each grave found. Police had said earlier there were mass graves after discovering 139 burial sites on the hill.

“After exhuming bodies from the graves, we are certain there is only one body in each grave,” he said.

“The bodies are wrapped in white cloth, like in a proper Muslim burial.  Some of the graves are shallow, while others are deep.”

Wan Junaidi was met after visiting the General Operations Force tactical base and Op Wawasan Khas operations camp yesterday.

Present was Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim.

Police had yesterday exhumed a total of 13 skeletal remains.

Wan Junaidi said police had arrested 14 suspects, including two policemen, since early this year for their alleged links in smuggling goods and in human trafficking  activities.

“The policemen were arrested in Penang in March and we are investigating other enforcement officers, including police and the villagers in Wang Kelian, to establish their involvement,” he said.

He said obstacles faced in the operations were not about exhuming remains but bringing the remains down from the steep slopes.

“Noor Rashid proposed constructing a helipad in the jungle to remove the remains by helicopter,” he said.