Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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(May 28): The Malaysian Bar wants Putrajaya to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) following the discovery of 139 grave sites at 28 “death camps” in Perlis, near the Thai border.

Its president Steven Thiru said the RCI must compose of credible members, including civil society representatives, especially those involved in working with the various categories of people movements into Malaysia.

"It is also critical that the Malaysian government takes the findings and recommendations of this RCI seriously and acts on them without delay.”

He said the RCI must look into the way in which the different forms of people movement, commonly referred to as “mixed migration”, occurring in Malaysia.

The RCI, he said, should investigate the flow of foreign migrant workers, undocumented migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and human trafficking victims into the country.

Steven said the RCI should also address questions relating to migrants,refugees, asylum seekers, victims of trafficking and prosecution of offenders.

"The question of our foreign labour needs and our over-dependence on cheap migrant labour must also be addressed," he said, adding that the RCI should also probe whether the law enforcement agencies had sufficient resources to do their work.

Steven said the unfolding tragedy was clearly the consequence of poor enforcement and was proof of the failure to prevent the menace of human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

He added that the RCI should get to the bottom of the allegations of complicity, collusion and corruption of law enforcement agencies.

"We commend the Malaysian government for the arrests of 2 police officers for alleged involvement in human trafficking but this can only be the tip of a very large iceberg."

However, he said an internal inquiry will be insufficient and as such a RCI was necessary.

Steven said Putrajaya must take swift action to seek out and arrest the perpetrators of the “death camps”, whether they were the traffickers or smugglers themselves, or the colluders and others who are complicit in this extreme example of one person’s inhumanity towards another. – The Malaysian Insider

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