PADANG BESAR, Thailand: The transit camp site in Lubuk Sireh in Perlis is being closely guarded by the General Operations Force (GOF) to enable the second phase of digging up of the graves of human trafficking victims to be carried out.
The Malaysian media which took the Ban Ta Lok route here, ascended the hill for about an hour before arriving at the Malaysian border which was fenced with barbed wire.
Sounds of trees being cut down could be heard when approaching the forest reserve in Perlis to facilitate forensic and police personnel to enter the transit camp site.
However, the presence of 10 journalists was noticed by GOF members, and they were promptly advised to leave the area and subsequently escorted back to the border.
A GOF official who did not want to be identified said the whole area between the boundaries in Ban Ta Lok in Thailand up to the foothills of Wang Kelian was a restricted area.
“The media are not allowed to enter due to security reasons, and this area is also prohibited,” he said when accompanying the media members out until the border of Thailand here today.
The second phase of the digging operation is expected to begin today, but according to the GOF official, they were now in the process of setting up temporary camps for forensic team and police taskforces.
He said the operation was expected to end by June 8.
This morning, a group of media personnel had gathered at the Padang Besar District Police Headquarters to cover the preparations of the forensic and police teams for the operation. However, they were not allowed to do so.
As the media members tried to find out what was happening at 9am, the police were seen loading about six Land Rover Defenders with digging equipment and basic requirements before leaving for the Thai border at Padang Besar. --Bernama