ALOR SETAR, June 14 — The remains of six Rohingyas exhumed in Wang Kelian, Perlis will be buried during the first week of Ramadan at Kampung Tualang in Jabi, Pokok Sena, according to an update by Kedah Mentri Besar (MB) Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Mahathir’s press secretary.
In WhatsApp message to Bernama at 4.28pm, he said the MB’s religious officer had informed him that this was due to the post-mortems not having been completed.
Earlier today, Mukhriz had said a cemetery had been made ready and the funeral would be handled by the Kedah Islamic Religious Department (JAIK).
“After discussions with the National Security Council, police, state government and the Kedah Islamic Religious Council, we have decided to bury the remains of 106 Rohingyas in Pokok Sena.
“The first six remains will be buried tomorrow. There will be more, depending on the completion of the autopsies by Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital,” he had told reporters.
Mukhriz expressed sympathy for the Rohingyas who became victims of human trafficking syndicates and were subjected to acts of cruelty.
“We are told they died of starvation and illnesses,” he said. Meanwhile, Persatuan Pembekal dan Pengurusan Tenaga Kerja Asing Malaysia (TEKAM) has denied that the association was involved in trafficking of Rohingya refugees in Wang Kelian.
The association’s deputy president I, Ishak Kamarudin said none of the 146 labour agencies registered with TEKAM were involved in sourcing foreign labour after 2012 when the government discontinued its Outsourcing System when an amnesty programme for illegal immigrants came into force.
“The trafficking in illegal immigrants at the Malaysia-Thailand border was possible because of weaknesses in enforcement,” he told reporters after presenting aid worth RM15,000 to the Kedah Immigration Department to be distributed to illegal immigrants held at the Immigration Depot in Sik, Kedah. — Bernama
