Human rights organization Fortify Rights has urged Malaysian authorities to launch a fresh investigation into the mass graves of Rohingyas discovered in Wang Kelian. The organization is also calling for the prosecution of officials found to be negligent in detecting, investigating, and prosecuting a human trafficking syndicate. Last week, four Thai nationals were charged by a court in Malaysia’s Perlis state for offenses under Malaysia’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act. These charges are related to the trafficking of Rohingyas from Myanmar to Malaysia in 2015.
Fortify Rights and Malaysia’s national human rights commission, SUHAKAM, found in 2019 that there was a surge in Rohingya trafficking between 2012 and 2015, which constituted crimes against humanity. The subsequent Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in Malaysia, in 2020, concluded that Malaysian officials could have prevented the trafficking and the discovery of the mass graves in Wang Kelian.
While welcoming the recent indictments, Fortify Rights stressed the importance of prosecuting Malaysian officials involved in these crimes. According to Patrick Phongsathorn, Senior Advocacy Specialist at Fortify Rights, no Malaysian official has faced formal charges in relation to the mass trafficking of Rohingya refugees, despite evidence of at least criminal negligence.
The Home Affairs Ministry of Malaysia acknowledged that the four extradited men were among ten individuals named in an extradition request made by Malaysian authorities to their Thai counterparts in January 2017. The four men are accused of being part of a transnational criminal syndicate responsible for trafficking around 170,000 people from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Malaysia via southern Thailand between 2012 and 2015.
Based on a comprehensive investigation and over 270 survivor accounts and eyewitness testimonies, a 121-page report by Fortify Rights and SUHAKAM in 2019 detailed grave human rights violations against Rohingya victims trafficked to Malaysia. The report documented widespread and systematic abuses, including imprisonment, torture, extortion, deprivation of life, rape, and killings on land and at sea. It also revealed that Malaysian authorities impeded justice by destroying evidence and delaying the exhumation of victims’ bodies.
The RCI’s final report, quietly released by Malaysia’s Home Affairs Ministry in July 2022, concluded that Malaysian officials could have prevented the torture and death of Rohingyas and other trafficking victims. The report highlighted instances of official negligence hindering the detection and proper investigation of the human trafficking syndicate. Former Inspector-General of Police Khalid bin Abu Bakar was cited for deliberately delaying the exhumation of human remains in Wang Kelian for over five months, significantly impeding accountability efforts.
Fortify Rights has also gathered survivor testimonies implicating government officials in the trafficking syndicate. In 2017, Thailand convicted 62 individuals, including a senior army general and eight Thai government officials, for their involvement in trafficking Rohingyas. However, since 2015, Malaysian courts have only convicted four non-Malaysian individuals in connection with the mass graves in Wang Kelian.
Fortify Rights has called on Malaysia’s newly established Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) to investigate cases of official criminal negligence in Wang Kelian. The IPCC, whose responsibilities include promoting integrity within the police force and addressing misconduct, will begin operating on July 1. Concerns have been raised by Malaysian civil society regarding the impartiality and accountability of the IPCC in investigating police wrongdoing.
In 2007, Malaysia enacted the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act, which criminalizes human trafficking and outlines the investigative duties of enforcement officers. The Malaysian Penal Code also stipulates criminal penalties for official negligence under sections 201, 217, and 218.
