Thailand to strengthen border control over discovery of ‘Rohingya’ graves

SONGKHLA, Thailand, May 3 (TNA) - Thailand will strengthen cooperation with neighboring counties on border control to prevent human trafficking following a discovery of mass graves of suspected Rohingya Muslim refugees in the country’s southern region on Friday. Fourth Army Commander Lieutenant General Prakan Cholavuth made the remark on Sunday, when he, officials from the Department of Special Investigation and Provincial Police Region 9 and forensic experts inspected the mass graves on a mountain in Sadoa district of Songkhla province bordering Malaysia. Lieutenant General Prakan said the area is believed to be a temporary camp built by human trafficking gangs to keep Rohingya refugees before sending them to third countries. He said he will ask neighboring countries to intensify patrol along the borders to prevent and to suppress human trafficking. Meanwhile, two Rohingya survivors, who were found near the site of the mass graves, told police that Thai and Myanmar people were responsible for looking after the camp. Twenty six bodies have so far been recovered from the mass graves. Rescue workers on Sunday removed 20 bodies of Rohingya refugees from the graves and transferred them to a local foundation after they had been examined by concerned authorities. Officials said most corpse were badly decayed and examination showed that there were no sign of violent death. The bodies were buried in Hat Yai district as per Islamic tradition. Officials said foreign experts were examining the other six bodies to find causes of their death. (TNA)