Mass grave in Thai jungle

Authorities in Thailand have found 32 graves suspected to be of trafficked migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh in an abandoned jungle camp.

The discovery made in Sadao district of Songkhla province comes as Thailand's junta cracks down on human trafficking following accusations that officials have been complicit in the illegal trade.

The area bordering Malaysia is notorious for its network of secret camps where smuggled migrants are held, usually against their will, until relatives pay up hefty ransoms.

"There are 32 graves," Sathit Thamsuwan, a rescue worker, who was at the scene soon after the site was found on Friday, told AFP, saying it was unclear how they had died.

"It is believed that the graves were of those who died during the journey."

Throughout yesterday, Thai forensic teams dug out badly decayed skeletons from shallow graves covered by bamboo and a few of feet of dirt, according to an AFP reporter.

"In total, we have 26 bodies. As far as I know one is a woman. We still cannot tell the cause of their deaths," head of the forensic team Police General Jarumporn Suramanee told AFP after their search ended yesterday.

Thailand's police chief has described the site as a "virtual prison camp" where migrants were held in makeshift bamboo cages.

Two survivors were rescued from the camp and they were taking treatment at a local hospital at Pedang Besar. They told doctors they had spent months at the camp despite falling sick and having little to eat.

"Both are malnourished, have scabies and lice," said Kwanwilai Chotpitchayanku, a physician.

"The older man could not walk, he had to be carried off the mountain. He hadn't eaten anything for two days before he was found. He told the translator he had a fever in the jungle for two months."

Doctors said the men had not been fully identified.

Local news portal Phuketwan reported that one of the survivors was identified as Anuzar, 28, a Bangladeshi, who said he had been abducted from Cox's Bazaar but had no money to pay a ransom. He was abandoned there for nine months. 

Minister (consular) Eheshamul Haque of Bangladesh embassy in Thailand said discovery of such graves is unprecedented.

He told The Daily Star over the phone that they were seeking consular access to the survivors before taking the next step.

After finding of the graves, Human Rights Watch (HRW), meanwhile, demanded an independent, United Nations-assisted investigation and bringing those responsible to justice.

"Trafficking of persons in Thailand has long been out of control, something that senior officials have admitted to Human Rights Watch and others," said Brad Adams, Asia director of HRW

In January, Thai authorities confirmed that more than a dozen government officials -- including senior policemen and a navy officer -- were being prosecuted for involvement or complicity in human trafficking.

In June last year, the United States dumped Thailand to the bottom of its list of countries accused of failing to tackle "modern-day slavery".

DANGEROUS CROSSINGS

According to the UN Refugee agency, as many as 87,000 people embarked on voyages to Malaysia from Myanmar and Bangladesh since 2012. The rate of maritime migration rose by 61 percent in a year ending in June 2014.

The Daily Star investigation found trafficking gangs having networks in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia are engaged in the multi-billion-dollar trade.

Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims -- described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minority communities -- and poor jobseekers of Bangladesh fall prey to the gangs being lured of lucrative jobs in Malaysia.

In Bangladesh, jobseekers from different districts are taken first to Teknaf of Cox's Bazar and then to cargo ships in deep sea by small engine boats in the dark of night.

After a perilous journey through the Bay of Bengal, they reach the Thai jungle camps and held captive for ransom ranging from Tk 2 lakh to 3 lakh.  

The migrants are not released until the Thai captors are confirmed that traffickers in Bangladesh have received the ransom from the victims' families.

Those failing to pay the money are abandoned in the jungle camps or sold to the Thai fishing industry. Many also end up in Thai jails and are eventually deported. Many languish in the jail for months and even years.

Last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the condition of such camps as "untenable", adding that their existence should "remain a matter of profound concern for the international community".

Switching tactics

Chris Lewa of Arakan Project that monitors the trafficking route said the Thai junta's crackdown had forced many Thai smugglers into hiding, reducing the numbers held in jungle camps in recent months.

But smugglers have simply switched tactics, she said, keeping desperate migrants in rickety boats at sea for endless weeks.

"We fear there may be thousands stuck at sea because they can't disembark. The camps have effectively been transferred from the jungle to international waters," she told AFP.

Two weeks ago, she interviewed a 15-year-old boy who had made it to Malaysia.

Rather than hold him in a Thai jungle camp, he was kept for six weeks on a boat, awaiting payment from his relatives.

"During his time at sea, he said he saw at least 30 people die. They were thrown overboard," he said.