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Malaysia PM Najib Razak vows to find people-smugglers Malaysian police find 139 suspected migrant graves
(about 1 hour later)
Malaysian PM Najib Razak has vowed to find those responsible for people-smuggling, after suspected mass graves of migrants were found in the country. A total of 139 suspected migrant grave sites have been found in 28 human-trafficking camps close to the Thai border in north Malaysia, say police.
Mr Razak said he was "deeply concerned" by the discovery on Sunday, the first found inside Malaysia. National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said some of the graves, found since 11 May, may contain more than one body.
Police in neighbouring Thailand found human-trafficking camps and dozens of shallow graves earlier in May. They are close to where trafficking camps and dozens of shallow graves were found earlier across the Thai border.
Its subsequent crackdown on trafficking has led to a regional crisis with thousands of migrants stranded at sea. Thailand subsequently cracked down on the routes traffickers used to move migrants through its territory.
'Unburied body' The operation forced traffickers to move the migrants - who ultimately want to reach Malaysia - by sea instead. But thousands were left stranded at sea after the traffickers abandoned them and no country would take them in.
On Sunday, about 100 bodies believed to be Rohingya migrants were found in mass graves in Malaysia's northern Perlis state, along the border with Thailand. 'Questions will be asked'
The graves were in a restricted area according to a minister in the prime minister's office Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, the Star newspaper reported. "[In] the operation which we have been conducting from 11 May to 23 May we discovered 139 of what we believe are graves," Mr Khalid told reporters on Monday.
There was a body left unburied at the scene, he said. The grave sites are hundreds of metres from the graves discovered in Thailand, he said.
"I am deeply concerned with graves found on Malaysian soil, purportedly connected to people-smuggling," Mr Razak said on his Facebook and Twitter accounts on Monday. "We will find those responsible." Mr Khalid was speaking at a press conference a day after the government first announced the discovery of Malaysian graves. He said the biggest of the camps could have held up to 300 people.
The graves are evidence of a human trafficking business where migrants are kept in jungle camps while ransom is demanded from family members. "The first team of our officers has arrived in the area this morning to exhume the bodies," he said.
An investigation by the BBC's Jonathan Head has found entire communities in Thailand helping the traffickers. Officials are trying to determine whether the graves are of victims of human trafficking.
Many migrants are believed to have perished from disease or starvation. Earlier, Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak said he was "deeply concerned with graves found on Malaysian soil, purportedly connected to people-smuggling". Writing on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, he promised to "find those responsible".
The migrants are mainly Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar where they are not recognised as citizens, but also Bangladeshi economic migrants looking to reach Malaysia through Thailand. The graves are evidence of a human trafficking business where migrants are kept in jungle camps while ransom is demanded from family members. Many migrants are believed to have perished from disease or starvation.
The crackdown in Thailand appears to have caused traffickers to abandon the migrants at sea. The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says as on the Thai side, the Malaysian camps are situated in an area with a strong military and police presence, and questions will be asked about why the authorities took no action before now - action that might have saved lives.
Boats packed with starving migrants were at first being turned away by Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai navies. An investigation by our correspondent has found entire communities in Thailand helping the traffickers.
Last week, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to provide temporary shelter to the migrants, but asked for them to be resettled by the international community within a year.
Asia's migrant crisisAsia's migrant crisis
Why are so many Rohingya stranded at sea?Why are so many Rohingya stranded at sea?
The perilous journey of a migrant boat that made itThe perilous journey of a migrant boat that made it
The Indonesian villagers saving migrantsThe Indonesian villagers saving migrants
The migrants are mainly Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar where they are not recognised as citizens, but also Bangladeshi economic migrants looking to reach Malaysia through Thailand.
The crackdown in Thailand appears to have caused traffickers to abandon the migrants at sea.
Boats packed with starving migrants were at first being turned away by Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai navies.
Last week, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to provide temporary shelter to the migrants, but asked for them to be resettled by the international community within a year.