Malaysian Police Seeking Access To Mass Graves From Thailand - IGP

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysian police are working on gaining easier access by land from Thailand to the mass graves of alleged victims of human traffickers in Malaysia's northernmost state, Perlis, said Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar on Wednesday. He said the police were talking with the Thai authorities on gaining access through Satun province in Thailand as the Bukit Wang Burma site of the mass graves was only 400 metres from Thailand. "The terrain (on the Malaysian side) is difficult. A forensics personnel was injured after falling from an embankment yesterday (Tuesday). "So, we are negotiating with Thailand for access to the site so that we can remove by road whatever we have found," he told a news conference, here. The police have found 139 graves, believed to be of victims of human traffickers, as well as 28 abandoned camps in Wang Kelian close to the Malaysia-Thailand border. Khalid said the difficult terrain, compounded by rain, posed a great challenge for the forensics personnel trying to remove the bodies and body parts of the victims, comprising mostly migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh. "We could not do any forensics work and search due to the rain yesterday," he said. Khalid said the slope was more gentle on the Thai side but became hilly and steep on the Malaysian side, and there were no settlements there. "It may be for this reason that the camps were put up on our (Malaysian) side, so as to evade detection by the Thai authorities," he said. Khalid said he did not rule out the possibility of other transit points, including aboard boats at sea, used by the human traffickers. Khalid said the police would investigate and act against anyone at all responsible for the deaths of the migrants, even if they were security personnel. "I do not rule out the involvement of security personnel. This year, 37 of them were arrested for human trafficking offences. We do not rule out the possibility of more arrests," he said. Khalid said the police had thus far classified the deaths of the migrants as sudden death until they had evidence to come up with any other classification. Meanwhile, Malaysian Health Minister Dr S. Subramaniam said the forensics team was expected to have difficulty identifying the bodies because of the absence of medical records. "We can determine the gender and the genetic origin but will not be able to say 100 per cent whose body it is. That will not be easy," he told reporters, here. Subramaniam said the ministry was sending more forensics personnel to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar (also in north Malaysia) from time to time to help with the post mortem of bodies sent there. --BERNAMA