JOHOR BARU – In a significant development regarding the infamous Wang Kelian human trafficking case, the Malaysian government has successfully extradited four suspects from Thailand who were involved in the migrant smuggling activities.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the extradition comes after Malaysia and Thailand initiated investigations to identify and apprehend those behind the sordid incident that saw at least 130 victims suffering horrendous conditions and even dying.
Most of them had been lured by the traffickers to pay huge sums to enter Malaysia illegally.
As a result of the investigations, Putrajaya made an extradition request to Bangkok on January 6, 2017 for ten Thai nationals.
Saifuddin expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the Thai government and all parties involved for their cooperation and efforts in ensuring a smooth extradition process.
The discovery of the Wang Kelian camp and graves in Perlis, bordering southern Thailand, back in May 2015 had sparked widespread reactions of shock and concern both within and outside Malaysia.
Following the incident, authorities on both sides of the border initiated investigations to identify and apprehend the responsible parties.
“Over the course of more than six years, the Malaysian and Thai governments have been working tirelessly to locate all the individuals involved in order to carry out the extradition process.
“Thanks to the excellent cooperation between the two nations, four out of the ten individuals have been successfully located and presented before the Thai courts for extradition purposes,” Saifuddin said.
The extradition case has gone through various stages of the Thai judiciary, and on March 30, the Thai Court of Appeals issued a detention order for the four individuals to be handed over to Malaysia.
In accordance with the Thai Court of Appeals’ order, the handover of the four individuals was executed on June 22.
All four suspects have now arrived in Malaysia and will be presented before the Kangar sessions court in Perlis on June 23 to face charges related to the Wang Kelian case.
Saifuddin also said that Malaysia hopes that this intergovernmental cooperation can be continued to enable the tracing of other individuals involved and bring them to justice.
He added the Home Affairs Ministry remains committed to safeguarding the nation’s border security and takes crimes related to cross-border activities, particularly human trafficking and migrant smuggling, extremely seriously.
The incident, known as one of the most heinous cases of human trafficking and migrant smuggling in the region, saw the discovery of a mass grave and a ramshackle migrant camp in Wang Kelian, Perlis, in May 2015.
A royal commission of inquiry (RCI) report on the tragedy, declassified in October, concluded that the torture and deaths of over 130 smuggled immigrants should have been prevented by local authorities.
The 184-page report detailed findings of the investigation about the camps’ existence, border control, and overall enforcement agencies’ response to the discovery of the mass graves and transit camp in Wang Kelian.
News of the mass graves including the bodies of 139 migrants was first reported by veteran journalist Datuk Arulldas Sinnappan in 2015 when he was reporting for the Malay Mail.
The RCI was established to probe into the Wang Kelian human trafficking case, following the discovery of over 100 makeshift graves and 29 temporary detention camps in 2015.
These graves and camps were discovered deep in the jungle of Bukit Genting Perah and Bukit Wang Burma, just a few hundred metres from the Malaysia-Thailand border. – The Vibes, June 22, 2023
