4 Thais linked to discovered mass graves of irregular immigrants extradited to Malaysia

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – Malaysia confirmed on Thursday that Thailand has handed over four of its citizens suspected of being part of a human-trafficking syndicate linked to the 2015 discovery of 139 graves on the border between the two countries, with multiple bodies in each of Rohingya and Bangladeshi citizens.

The country's Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that four Thai nationals have been extradited to Malaysia and will be charged for the crime on Friday, according to local media.

“All four are now in Malaysia and will be brought before the Kangar Sessions Court in Perlis to be charged on Friday,” Ismail is quoted as saying by The Star newspaper.

According to the minister, the four are among 10 Thai nationals sought for extradition by Malaysia following its investigation in 2017 into the discovery of graves in border camps.

“The Malaysian government hopes that this collaboration can be continued to track down the other individuals involved and bring them to justice,” he said.

In 2015, Malaysian police discovered 139 graves, some of which were initially thought to contain four bodies, at 28 camps near the country's border with Thailand.

Malaysia later established a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the mass graves, and the commission submitted its report in 2019.

While a joint report titled "Sold Like Fish" released by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and Fortify Rights found a human-trafficking syndicate that committed crimes against Rohingya men, women, and children in Malaysia and Thailand from 2012 to 2015.

According to Fortify Rights, the mass graves discovered in Wang Kelian in 2015 are thought to contain the bodies of trafficked Rohingya and Bangladeshis.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid