ALOR SETAR: A Rohingya from Myanmar, known as Yassin, is believed to be the main agent behind the human trafficking camps uncovered by Malaysian authorities in Wang Kelian, Perlis.
Kedah Rohingya Society in Malaysia (RSM) deputy chairman Yusof Ali told Bernama that Yassin, who is in his 30s and lives in southern Thailand, might have slipped back to Myanmar after his activities were exposed.
"Based on information received, he is the agent responsible for buying Rohingyas and Bangladeshis from a syndicate in southern Thailand at a fixed price and keeping them temporarily at transit camps in Wang Kelian before selling them to other parties.
"Yassin is a big agent of the human trafficking syndicate and his name is known among many Rohingyas who are in Malaysia and were his victims," said Yusof, who has been living in Malaysia for 20 years.
"Because he lives and operates in southern Thailand, Yassin has close ties with other syndicate leaders who are either Thai citizens or Myanmar nationals from the Rakhine community,” he said.
Yusof said Yassin would hold the people he had just bought after their arrival in southern Thailand in a specific location such as a transit camp in the jungle of Wang Kelian before distributing them to smaller agents for a fixed fee.
"The smaller agents or their people would transport these new arrivals to various parts of Malaysia," he added.
He also disclosed that the transit camps in Wang Kelian had been operating for two to three years.
His comments were supported by Mohammad Hussain Abu Hassan, an active RSM member.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had announced the discovery of 139 graves and 28 transit camps, which were abandoned by the syndicate in Wang Kelian, near the Malaysia-Thailand border.
The police forensics team discovered three decomposed bodies from the graves in the transit camps.
Yusof added that Wang Kelian's location surrounded by thick jungle, steep limestone hills close to the Thai border made it a favourite route of the human trafficking syndicates. - BERNAMA
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