Malaysia premier worried over mass graves discovery
Malaysia’s prime minister has expressed grave concern over the discovery of several mass graves in the country’s north believed to contain migrants’ bodies, promising to find those responsible.
“I am deeply concerned with graves found on Malaysian soil, purportedly connected to people-smuggling,” Najib Razak said in a message posted on his Facebook and Twitter pages on Monday, adding, “We will find those responsible."
The comments came a day after Home Minister Zahid Hamidi said mass graves have been found near camps belonging to human traffickers along the border with Thailand.
Earlier in the day, Malaysian media reported that police had found mass graves believed to contain the remains of about 100 migrants from the Rohingya Muslim community of Myanmar and also Bangladeshi migrants.
The graves were said to have been discovered in the towns of Padang Besar and Wang Kelian in the state of Perlis that borders Thailand.
The officials in Malaysia have not released information about the number of bodies or the precise locations of the graves yet.
Thai police in early May announced the discovery of secret human-trafficking camps on their side of the border and dozens of shallow graves.
The area where the graves were found is reportedly a major stop on a route that migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar use to enter Malaysia and beyond.
The Rohingya Muslims face extensive discrimination and restrictions in Myanmar. Many of the Muslims now live in camps for the displaced, three years after scores of them lost their lives in acts of violence by local Buddhists. The turmoil forced more people to flee on boats.
The government in Myanmar refuses to recognize the minority group as its citizens and insists they are “illegal” immigrants, even though they have lived in the country for centuries.
MR/NN/HRB
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