KUALA LUMPUR: No Malaysian enforcement officials, public servants or locals were involved in human trafficking and migrant smuggling syndicates in Wang Kelian, Perlis, according to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report.
However, the RCI report looking into the mass grave in Wang Kelian stated that there was gross negligence on the part of border patrols.
Human rights and anti-crime groups are now urging the Malaysian authorities to better patrol the borders to avoid such incidents recurring.
Illegal syndicates, said the report, had operated freely as the demand for workers was ever-present due to the fluid nature of government policies concerning migrant workers.
In its 211-page report, the RCI found that the torture and deaths of Rohingya refugees and others in Wang Kelian “should have been prevented by the authorities” and that Malaysian enforcement agencies had failed to follow their own standard operating procedures, significantly impacting the quality of their investigations into the situation in Wang Kelian.
The report noted that after the discovery of the trafficking camps by the Malaysian authorities on Jan 19, 2015, the authorities only took action on March 6 to verify whether or not there were human remains in what appeared to be shallow graves.
A full forensic exhumation of the graves and autopsies of the victims was only initiated on May 24 that year.
The RCI report also noted severe deficiencies in intelligence-gathering, cross-border coordination, and the handling of human remains and other pieces of evidence.
In 2015, 139 graves were discovered in 28 abandoned migrant “prison camps” close to the Malaysia-Thailand border, following similar graves found in Thailand at around the same time.
Human rights group Fortify Rights said that Malaysian officials should go to jail for sending Rohingya refugees to what it called “death camps” in Wang Kelian. This includes officials who were found to have been criminally negligent in the police investigation.
The government did not publicly release the final report of the 2019 RCI, with the chair of the RCI claiming then that the report was a state secret.
Despite the failings and serious negligence identified by the RCI, Fortify Rights said it failed to recommend legal action against implicated officials or a fuller investigation of potential official complicity in the human trafficking syndicate responsible.
However, the report recently appeared on the Home Ministry website, said the group.
Its chief executive officer Matthew Smith said the appearance of the report online, unknown to key stakeholders in the country, raised questions about the ongoing lack of justice and accountability for the Rohingya victims.
“In response to the RCI’s findings and to give Rohingya victims and their families a measure of justice, the Malaysian government must provide reparations and prosecute officials implicated in the horrendous crimes in Wang Kelian.
“The only secrets surrounding this report relate to official complicity in the trafficking camps, and the next steps should involve prosecutions.
“A full investigation and legal action must now be taken against Malaysian officials identified as potentially having obstructed justice in their negligent handling of the investigation into the abuse and murder of trafficking victims in Wang Kelian,” said Smith.
Malaysians Against Rape, Assault and Snatch Theft (Marah) founder Dave Avran said he had seen smugglers’ trails along the borders.
“We desperately need stricter and more effective control of our borders.
“There must be constant and tight control with well-trained and disciplined border patrol personnel,” he said, adding that there must also be strong cooperation and coordination between Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Kalimantan (Indonesia) in control of the common borders.
He said there must also be better coordination and data-sharing among the different enforcement agencies.
