Mass graves found in Malay-Thai border

Malaysian police excavate a massive grave (Source: DailySabah)

Malaysia police said on August 23 that they had found mass graves containing the remains of 24 people believed to be human trafficking victims in ​ Burma area near the border with Thailand the previous day. 

The location was described as a heavily forested area which smugglers use as a transit point to bring people from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Southeast Asia.

It was close to where Malaysian authorities discovered hundreds of bodies in illegal detention camps last May.

It was not immediately clear whether the bodies found were those of Rohingya, a Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar.

Thai authorities started a crackdown against human trafficking in early May after dozens of mass graves were uncovered near their border with Malaysia. Many of the bodies were believed to be those of Rohingya people who were finding ways to travel across southern Thailand to Malaysia.

Over 3,500 Bangladeshi people and Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim followers have recently fled to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, creating a regional migrant crisis.-VNA