After the discovery of \u201cdeath camps\u201d in southern Thailand, reports are now trickling in that there may be similar slave camps housing illegal immigrants on the Malaysian side of the border.<\/p>\n
The former president of the Rohingya club in Thailand involved in helping refugees, Abdul Kalam, alleged that Malaysia is home to some 80% of the holding camps where young Rohingya and Bangladeshi \u201cslaves\u201d brought in by human traffickers are kept.<\/p>\n
Malaysians are also directly involved in the trafficking syndicate, he alleged yesterday.<\/p>\n
Abdul Kalam, who works with Thai police as a translator when Myanmar refugees are rescued, said the slave trafficking camps near the Thai border typically house between 500 and 1,000 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation has worsened in the last 10 years, with about 50 camps near the border.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are more camps in Malaysia now as the Thai government has been clamping down on human traffickers,\u201d Abdul Kalam, 58, alleged.<\/p>\n
He said refugees in these camps were forced to live in deplorable conditions, with little food and drink.<\/p>\n
While not making specific accusations against Malaysia, Thailand\u2019s 4th Army Region commander Lt-Gen Prakan Cholayuth said his government was \u201choping that neighbouring countries will help in the crackdown of human trafficking activities across the border\u201d.<\/p>\n
Kedah police chief Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Zamri Yahya, however, has refuted allegations that such camps exist on the Malaysian side of the border.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no such thing. As far as we know the camps are only at the Thailand side.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the Malaysian side, police, including the Border Intelligence Unit, the General Operations Force, special teams from Bukit Aman and other enforcement agencies are working together to curb illegal immigrants and human trafficking activities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha plans to meet Malaysian and Myanmar leaders over the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuman trafficking has to be jointly tackled and it should be understood that the problem did not originate in Thailand,\u201d he said, adding the country was just a transit point.<\/p>\n
Prayut said migrants arrested in Thailand would be taken care of.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will be charged with illegal entry. After that, they will be detained, not jailed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the last few days, Thai authorities have discovered abandoned jungle camps in Songkhla where mass graves have been found.<\/p>\n
Dozens of bodies were exhumed in one site while 26 bodies were found in shallow graves a kilometre away.<\/p>\n
Abdul Kalam said yesterday he believed that Malaysians were directly involved in the human trafficking syndicate on the Thai side of the border.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral refugees who have spent time at these camps have heard conversations taking place in Bahasa Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have told my people in Myanmar not to come to Malaysia because they may be kidnapped and beaten by human traffickers, but they don\u2019t believe me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Abdul Kalam, who has been living in Thailand for more than 30 years, said his fellow nationals were lured by human traffickers with promises of good jobs, but were instead sent to hilltop camps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey come by boat, about 500 people crammed into one boat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey charge each person RM7,000, which they have to pay once they start working.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they get cheated. Traffickers send them to camps and ask for ransom from their families,\u201d he told The Star.<\/p>\n
Speaking in fluent Thai and some broken English, he revealed that those who did not pay up or attempted to run away would be beaten, some to death.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce money is paid or when someone is willing to \u2018buy\u2019 the Rohingya, they\u2019ll be sent to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver there, people wait in a car to pick up the refugees,\u201d he said.-thestaronline<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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