PUTRAJAYA, Aug 29 — Thailand has agreed to Malaysia’s request to extradite 10 Thai nationals believed to be masterminds in human trafficking cases along the Malaysia-Thailand border, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also home minister, said the 10 individuals, aged between 35 and 60 years, had been identified as being involved in the case of the discovery of a mass grave in Wang Kelian, Perlis in May last year.
According to information obtained from the Thai authorities, some of the individuals who are high on the wanted list in Malaysia, had been detained by Thailand while the rest were still at large, he said.
“They must be extradited to allow for legal action to be taken against them. We do not want the international community to view the case as only a Malaysian one, but a cross-border crime,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid told this to reporters after holding a four-eyed meeting with his Thai counterpart General Prawit Wongsuwan, who is also Thailand’s defence minister. Prawit paid him a courtesy call as part of his itinerary on his one-day visit to Malaysia.
He said the names of the 10 individuals were officially submitted to the Thai authorities during his working visit to Bangkok on August 4 and 5.
“I handed over the names and today, the Thai authorities informed us of the action taken as a follow-up to Malaysia’s request. We will take custody of the 10 people as soon as Thailand hand them over to us.
“However, the extradition must go through several processes as well as legal procedures, and it must be in accordance with the International Transfer of Prisoners,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid said during today’s meeting, Malaysia also requested Thailand’s cooperation in identifying its citizens with dual citizenship to avoid problems relating to security issues.
“Malaysia also asked the Thai authorities to supply thumb prints or biometric data and identify those with both Thai and Malaysian citizenship to avoid complications relating to security,” he said.
“With the names and biometric data available, it will be easy to track them down if they commit crimes in Thailand and escape to Malaysia using Malaysian names,” he said.
Asked if there were any links between Islamic State and human trafficking, Ahmad Zahid said: “We have no evidence but there is an ideology link between extremist groups in southern Thailand and southern Philippines with those in Indonesia and Malaysia. We need to investigate the smuggling and trafficking link. We are looking further into it”.
Asked if the 10 individuals had dual citizenship, the deputy prime minister said Malaysia must wait for details on them from Thailand.
Ahmad Zahid added that he and Prawit also discussed several other issues relating to the Leaders Annual Consultation Meeting that will be held in Bangkok and is expected to discuss cooperation on supply of electricity and also on the High-Speed Rail project.
He said at the meeting, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will meet his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha to discuss issues relating to various agencies and ministries, as well as the general border meeting between the two countries.
Meanwhile, according to a statement issued on today’s meeting, Ahmad Zahid and Prawit discussed matters relating to collaboration to combat cross-border crimes, a prisoner exchange programme, joint immigration efforts,
deradicalisation of terrorists and management of borders and transportation.
“The country is aware that the security issue cannot be resolved unilaterally especially in cross-border and international crimes where it is important to tackle these threats effectively.
“It involves monitoring of human movements across the borders, in line with the regional cooperation between Malaysia and Thailand discussed in several meetings,” he said.
These meetings include Asean Ministerial Meeting on Cross-Border Crimes and the Asean Senior Officers Meeting on Cross-Border Crimes.
During these meetings, Malaysia had expressed its readiness to share with Thailand its experiences and expertise on deradicalisation of terrorists. — Bernama
