The Story Behind The 139 Mass Graves Reveal The Grim Reality Of Human-Trafficking
"I am shocked. We never expected this kind of cruelty," Khalid told reporters at a police outpost in the town of Wang Kelian several kilometers from the camps, one of which appeared large enough to hold about 300 people.
Cover image via dailymail.co.uk
In an operation that began on 11 May, Malaysian police have found 139 graves strewn across the Perlis range of hills that rise from Malaysia into Thailand, in the vicinity of 28 abandoned camps, the IGP, Khalid Abu Bakar, confirmed on 25 May, Times LIVE reported
Malaysian Police officers are seen inside the camp after bringing down the human remains from the mass grave site of ethnic Rohingyas between the Malaysia-Thailand borders in Wang Kelian in state of Perlis on May 25, 2015 outside Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
Image via Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Image
Speaking with reporters in the northern state of Perlis, Khalid said:
The investigators searching the dense jungle not only found crudely erected barbed-wire pens and wooden cages, they also discovered a teddy bear and small-sized sandals, a sign that children were held in the camps, according to this NPR report. The grisly find follows the discovery of similar shallow graves on the Thai side of the border earlier this month, which helped trigger a regional crisis.
An abandoned human trafficking camp. Graves were found nearby, close to the border with Thailand at Wang Kelian, Malaysia.
Image via Royal Malaysian police/EPA
A Malaysian forensic team personnel handles bags of human remains found at abandoned camps used by human traffickers on the Malaysia-Thailand border in Wang Kelian on Monday.
Image via Joshua Paul/AP
Police also discovered ammunition, suggesting that the gangs were armed. Meanwhile, according to an Irish Times report, 25 May, it took hours to bring the first decomposed body down to a police camp at the base of the mountains where the camps were found.
How many bodies each grave contains is not yet clear, nor is it known how the people may have died. But these remains are believed to be a grim by-product of the human-trafficking trade that for years has transported persecuted Rohingya Muslims from Burma, as well as, increasingly, Bangladeshis desperate to escape
An abandoned camp allegedly for trafficked Rohingya and Bangladeshis in mountainous jungle on the Malaysian side of the Thai-Malaysian border.
Image via James Nachtwey/TIME
Officials carry bags with human remains found at the site of trafficking camps. The number and size of the camps suggest they may have been capable of housing hundreds of people. Khalid said the largest could hold up to 300 people; another had a capacity of 100, and the rest could hold about 20 each, SCMP reported.
Image via Reuters
Image via AP
Image via Getty Images
