Authorities in Thailand uncovered a mass grave in an abandoned jungle
camp Friday believed to contain the remains of migrants from Myanmar
and Bangladesh, a grisly find in a region notorious for people-smuggling
routes.
The discovery was made at a remote camp in Sadao district, in
Songkhla province bordering Malaysia, and comes as Thailand's junta
cracks down on human trafficking following accusations that officials
have been complicit in the trade.
The border area with Malaysia is notorious for its network of secret
camps where smuggled migrants are held, usually against their will until
relatives pay up hefty ransoms.
"There are 32 graves, four bodies have now been exhumed and are on
their way... to hospital for an autopsy," Sathit Thamsuwan, a rescue
worker who was at the scene soon after the site was found, told AFP,
saying it was unclear how they had died.
"The bodies were all decayed," he said, adding a single emaciated man
from Bangladesh survived and was being treated at a hospital in nearby
Padang Besar.
Tens of thousands of migrants from Myanmar, mainly from the Rohingya
Muslim minority but also increasingly from Bangladesh, make the
dangerous sea crossing to southern Thailand, a well-worn trafficking
route often on the way south to Malaysia and beyond.
Last week U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the condition of such camps as “untenable,” adding that their existence should “remain a matter of profound concern for the international community.”
Thailand has been criticized in the past for pushing boatloads of Rohingya entering Thai waters back out to sea, and for holding migrants in overcrowded facilities.
Source: Agency
Last week U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the condition of such camps as “untenable,” adding that their existence should “remain a matter of profound concern for the international community.”
Thailand has been criticized in the past for pushing boatloads of Rohingya entering Thai waters back out to sea, and for holding migrants in overcrowded facilities.
- The ruling junta says it has taken significant steps to combat trafficking since June, when the United States dumped Thailand to the bottom of its list of countries accused of failing to tackle modern-day slavery.
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