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Suhakam: Act swiftly against human traffickers
Published:  May 26, 2015 4:50 PM
Updated: 1:42 PM

The authorities must act urgently against all involved in human trafficking across the Malaysia-Thailand border, urged Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) acting chairman Khaw Lake Tee.

 

In a statement today, he said enforcement and public officials, as well as private individuals suspected of being implicated in trafficking, should be immediately investigated, tried and if found guilty, appropriately punished.

 

He also recommended the assets of those involved in the human trafficking trade be frozen and confiscated, and used to compensate the victims of trafficking.

 

Police today began the grim task of exhuming the remains found in the mass graves around jungle camps near the Thai border.

 

The graves were discovered in an operation which began on May 11 - the same day the Home Ministry denied the existence of such graves on the Malaysian side of the border.

Recently abandoned camps were also found near the graves, believed to have been used by human traffickers to house victims over the past five years.

 

Deploy special forces at border

 

Meanwhile Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) adviser Kua Kia Soong said the General Operations Force (GOF) of the police should be deployed to the jungles along the border, instead of being used to disperse peaceful assemblies.

 

The GOF was formed in 1948 during the Malayan Emergency to engage anti-colonial guerrillas in the jungles back then.

 

"If they could fight the anti-colonial guerrillas for more than two decades, why are they ineffectual against human traffickers?" Kua asked in a press statement today.

 

For Suaram programme coordinator Serene Lim, one issue was that the refugees were often seen as 'the problem'.

 

"It is the criminal syndicates that operate with such impunity that must be labelled 'the problem'," Lim pointed out in a press statement.

 

Lim also said the Myanmar government must be taken to task for the history of human rights abuses perpetrated by them, particularly towards the Rohingyas.

 

The Rohingyas on boats stranded at sea must not be forgotten either, she said.

 

She urged the Malaysian government to provide updates on its search and rescue mission that was ordered by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on May 21.

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