Detention camps and migrant graves reveal grim reality in Malaysia
Police discover 139 grave plots containing bodies of suspected Rohingyas and Bangladeshis and 28 detention sites capable of housing hundreds
Malaysian police said yesterday they had found 139 grave sites containing suspected remains of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants, as well as 28 abandoned "detention" camps capable of housing hundreds, laying bare the grim extent of the region's migrant crisis.
National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said authorities were exhuming the remains, and it remained unclear how many bodies might lie in the pits, located in a remote and hard-to-reach area of mountainous jungle along the Thai border.
But the findings appeared to indicate a system of jungle camps and graves that dwarfs those found by Thai police earlier this month, a discovery that ignited regional concern about human smuggling and trafficking.
The discovery also follows repeated denials by top Malaysian officials - who have long been accused by rights groups of not doing enough to address the illicit trade - that such grisly sites existed on their soil.
"(Authorities) found 139 suspected graves. They are not sure how many bodies are inside each grave," Khalid told reporters in the town of Wang Kelian near the Thai border. "They also found 28 detention camps."
He said authorities were now exhuming bodies and would conduct post-mortems, adding that at least one body was "badly decomposed."
