Arakan News Agency
BUKIT WANG BURMA, Malaysia — Malaysian forensics teams exhumed a body from a shallow grave Tuesday at an abandoned jungle camp used by human traffickers, the first of what police predicted would be more grim findings as they search through a cluster of illicit hideouts near the border with Thailand.
Authorities say there are 139 suspected graves in the mountainous jungle where northern Malaysia meets southern Thailand, a remote area that trafficking syndicates used as a transit point to hold migrants and refugees. Most were believed to be members of Burma’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.
“There are graves all over this area.” said Mohammad Bahar Alias, a senior police official from northern Perlis state. Digging continued at other graves, which police said were marked by sticks or stones.
Malaysian police took journalists to one of 28 abandoned camps found after a regional crackdown was launched on human trafficking earlier this month.
The camp, reached after a 2-hour hike up a steep jungle path, appeared to have been abandoned a while ago, police said. A jungle prison remained that included at least two large wooden pens wrapped with barbed wire.
“These structures were believed to be used as human cages,” said Mohammad Bahar. He said the camp may have held up to 300 people. It also contained a watch tower and a cooking area littered with dishes and pots. During the tour, authorities pointed out what looked like the skeletal remains of a jaw on the ground.
“We think it belongs to a human,” said Mohammad Bahar.
The body that was found Tuesday was wrapped from head to toe in a white cloth. He said it would be taken to a state hospital for an autopsy.
The discoveries in the northern Malaysian state of Perlis follow similar revelations earlier this month in Thailand, where police unearthed dozens of bodies from shallow graves on the Thai side of the border. Thai police Maj. Gen. Puthichart Ekkachan said 36 bodies were found there in seven abandoned camps.
Source :The Associated Press
