Pressing questions after human

trafficking grave found in southern

Thailand

Thai rescuers carry a dead body to a hospital in Songkhla province, southern Thailand, Friday. Pic: AP.

By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices May 05, 2015

Thailands military government is facing new pressure following the discovery of a
mass grave in the countrys south, where dozens of bodies, presumably victims of
human trafficking, were buried. Police have made several arrests linked to the crime
and the Thai junta has vowed to take action.
The shallow graves containing 26 bodies were discovered by Thai authorities on
Friday in Songkhla province, deep in the jungle near the Malaysian border and is

believed to be part of a camp where up to 400 trafficked migrants were held for
ransom and confined to 39 bamboo huts. Some survivors were found at or near the
camp. On the possible cause of death, a Thai police officer stated:
From initial forensic investigation at the site there are no marks on
the bones or breakages that would suggest a violent death, Police
Colonel Triwit Sriprapa, deputy commander of Songkhla Provincial
Police, said. It is likely that they died from disease and malnutrition.
Bodies from mass grave in Thailand jungle camp didnt die
violently, South Chinese Morning Post, May 4, 2015
Thai police also have yet to confirm that the migrants were Rohingya, an ethnic
Muslim minority that have been denied citizenship in neighboring Burma (Myanmar)
and targeted in violent persecutions by extremist Buddhists over the past couple of
years, resulting in hundreds being killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. This
has driven thousands to flee the country, many via the Andaman Sea in the hope of
reaching Malaysia or Indonesia, but often illegally cross into Thai territory. These risky
boat trips are mostly facilitated or intercepted by human traffickers, who then hold
these refugees for ransom from their relatives or force into them into labor to pay off
their debts.
That these cases have become so rampant and busts like the one last week are so rare
is due to many factors: on one hand Thai authorities regard these migrants as illegal
economic immigrants and not as refugees. Also they in some instances have failed to
report such activities based on a technicality. Even worse, some Thai officials
themselves were directly involved in human trafficking as well, with few consequences
(see Siam Voices coverage in 2013) other than going after those reporting on these
shortcomings.
This has partly contributed to Thailands poor anti-human trafficking record, resulting
in a downgrade by the U.S. Sate Department last year and more recently being put on a
watch list by the European Union because of slaves on Thai fishing boats
(see here, here and here) which could result in a trade ban for Thai seafood products.

Resc
ue workers and forensic officials dig out skeletons from shallow graves covered by bamboo at the site of a mass grave at an abandoned jungle camp in the
Sadao district of Thailand's southern Songkhla province bordering Malaysia on May 2, 2015. The badly decayed remains of at least three more migrants thought
to be from Myanmar or Bangladesh were exhumed on May 2 from a mass grave in southern Thailand, as details emerged of the maltreatment endured at the
remote people smugglers' camp. Authorities have found the remains of at least eight people since the grim discovery of the site on May 1, a find which has again
laid bare Thailand's central role in a regional human trafficking trade. AFP PHOTO / Madaree TOHLALA (Photo credit should read MADAREE
TOHLALA/AFP/Getty Images)

The methods of the traffickers have become more sophisticated, as fellow Asian
Correspondent blogger Francis Wade wrote:
[] its worth remembering how [Thai] officials have aided and
profited from a trade suspected to be worth up to $250
million annually. With the rising profits has also come a greater
sophistication in the trade: the boy who watched fellow travelers
being pitched into the ocean said he only managed to survive because
his boat had a desalination plant that supplied fresh water to his and
other vessels carrying trafficked Rohingya. As Phuketwan notes, the
clampdowns on onshore trafficking sites have moved the industry
further offshore, and onto floating camps where the smugglers

bounty is held until the next link in the trafficking chain running from
Burma (Myanmar) to Thailand is ready to take them. Until demand is
curtailed, traffickers will keep coming up with new ways to ensure the
industry stays afloat.
Rohingya deaths: String of mass graves stretches from Burma to
Thailand, by Francis Wade, Asian Correspondent, May 1, 2015
Also, a survivor who managed to escape captivity told The Nation about the conditions
in these camps, saying the 26 bodies may only be the tip of the iceberg:
() this survivor said he had heard that more than 500 victims were
killed at various camps holding human-trafficking or kidnap victims
along the Thai-Malaysian borders. Ive also heard that thousands of
Rohingya migrants were at those camps waiting for promised jobs or
for ransom to arrive, he said.
This survivor said he was lured out of Myanmars Rakhine state six
months ago by an offer to find him a job in Malaysia. He ended up in
the same camp as Kazim, where between 700 and 800 migrants were
held. My mum had to sell our familys land to pay for my ransom.
Thats why I am still safe, he said. ()
The survivor from the camp said that during his time there, between
17 and 20 people were killed. They were either shot or clubbed to
death, he said. He said victims whose relatives could not afford the
ransom would be fatally attacked or left to die.
Survivor believes more than 500 killed in camps, by Krissana
Thiwatsirikul, Mary Bradley & Somjit Rungjamrasrassamee, The
Nation, May 4, 2015
Thai authorities said on Monday that four suspects have been arrested in connection to
the mass grave, among them a local administrative official, two police officers and a
Burmese man. The latter is reportedly already known to the police as a human
trafficker and his arrestis hailed as huge, according to the provincial deputy police
commander. Four other suspects are being sought.
Meanwhile, after inspecting the scene with the National Police chief over the weekend,
Thai army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr has pledged to punish local
authorities if illegal smuggling of Rohingyas take place in their respective jurisdictions.
This was followed later that day by an order to transfer local police officers to inactive
posts, among them the police commander of Satun province, high ranking officers of
the border town Padang Besars police station, and the border patrol police.

Human Rights Watch has called for an independent and international inquiry. That is
not very surprising, since it expresses skepticism towards the Thai authorities given
that they have been aware of human trafficking actions for years, but have failed to act
upon it with some even enriching themselves with it and their ability to completely
clean up their own ranks.
_____________
About the author:
Saksith Saiyasombut blogs extensively about Thai politics and current
affairs since 2010 and works as an international freelance broadcast
journalist. Read his full bio on about.me/saksith.
Posted by Thavam