Thai army chief visits Songhla to inspect mass ‘Rohingya’ graves

SONGKHLA, Thailand, May 4 (TNA) – Thai Army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr has vowed to axe any government official who is found to be involved in human trafficking in the wake of the discovery of mass graves of Rohingya Muslim refugees in the southern province of Songkhla. “State officials must not become a tool for human trafficking. From now on, strict actions will be taken to stop this illegal activity and wrongdoers will not be spared,” General Udomdej said when he visited Songkhla province to inspect the mass graves on Monday. “Any government officials proved to be involved in the human trafficking would face tough actions”, he said. The mass graves of Rohingya Muslim refugees were discovered on a mountain in Sadoa district of Songkhla bordering Malaysia on Friday. General Udomdej said he has been ordered by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to work with local authorities in monitoring the case and to get rid of human trafficking in order to improve the country’s image. He said there are 31 graves and 25 badly-decayed skeletons and one fresh dead body were buried in them. The army chief said he will also visit the southern Ranong province, where Rohingya refugees often arrive on boats. Ranong is known as an entry point to Thailand of Rohingya refugees, from where human trafficking gangs will transfer them to third countries. (TNA)