Malaysia has discovered a total of 139 graves spread over 28 abandoned human trafficking camps in the country’s northern hilly region sharing border with Thailand, police said on Monday. The bodies were found in Wang Kelian region where Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar were reportedly being held. The camps were found on the hilly terrain near the Malaysia-Thailand border on May 11, said Khalid Abu Bakar, Inspector-General of Police.
“We don’t know how many bodies are in the graves but exhumation works start today (Monday). We can’t tell yet if they are the Rohingyas or Bangladeshis. We found a highly decomposed body on the ground, believed to have died two weeks ago,” Bakar said. “(Authorities) found 139 suspected graves. They are not sure how many bodies are inside each grave,” he said, a day after authorities announced the discovery of mass graves.
The discovery by the police has proved claims that there were such trafficking camps on the Malaysian side of the border, believed to be set up by human trafficking syndicates. Since May 1, Thai authorities have found mass graves near the border at Padang Besar with the discovery of 33 bodies believed to be migrants. “It is a very sad scene," Bakar said in Perlis state, adding that some of the camps appeared to have been abandoned two to three weeks ago.