PUTRAJAYA: The seventh witness at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Wang Kelian human trafficking incident caused a stir when he pointed the finger at Thai authorities for indirectly being the cause of the incident.
Assistant Superintendent Jamaluddin Shah Mohd Jawan, who was acting Padang Besar Special Branch chief at the time of the discovery of the human trafficking camps in Wang Kelian in 2015, blamed Thai authorities for setting up temporary detention camps for illegal immigrants at the border with Malaysia.
This, he claimed, indirectly encouraged illegal immigrants to enter Malaysia from Thailand.
He added that the temporary camps in Thailand were similar to the ones found in Wang Kelian, which had been used by human traffickers to house the immigrants.
Jamaluddin was testifying before a seven-member panel led by former chief justice Tun Arifin Zakaria as chairman and former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Norian Mai as his deputy.
Also in the panel are former chief prosecutor Datuk Noorbahri Baharuddin; former Suhakam chief commissioner Tan Sri Razali Ismail; former head of research at the Attorney-General’s Chambers Datuk Junaidah Abdul Rahman; former Malaysian ambassador to Thailand Datuk Nazirah Hussin; and, former Public Accounts Committee (PAC) deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw.
Jamaluddin said illegal immigrants arrested in Thailand were initially placed in a southern Thai city.
“When the Thai authorities detain illegal immigrants, they will keep them at the Nakhon Si Thammarat detention centre, in southern Thailand.
“However they will send the illegal immigrants to the detention centres in Sadao and Padang Besar, which are cities on the border with us, when the centre in Nakhon Si Thammarat is full.
“Both the Sadao and Padang detention centres can only accommodate between 60 and 80 detainees at any one time.”
Jamaluddin said the Thai authorities would then set up temporary detention camps, similar to the human trafficking camps found in Malaysia, close to the border.
“The temporary camps were set up in Ban Talo, next to our border in Genting Perah and Tangga 100, and Sadao.
“I believe the Thai authorities were using the excuse that their detention centres were full so that they can build temporary detention centres there (close to the Malaysian border),” he said.
Norian then asked Jamaluddin whether he was suggesting that the Thai authorities had indirectly encouraged the illegal immigrants to come to Malaysia by placing the camps at the border, to which he replied in the affirmative.
“I have been following the case from the early stage and the camp structures in Thailand are similar to those found here.”
Ariffin: You said the camps are the same. Have you ever been to see the camps in Thailand?
Jamaluddin: I went there on May 1 (some time after the camps in Wang Kelian were discovered) when the Thai authorities conducted a major operation in Padang Besar. At that time, I had already received documents and photographs of the camp (in Thailand) and grave structures and they appeared to be similar to those found in Malaysia.
Nazirah : What was the information that both Malaysian and Thai intelligence received?
Jamaluddin: During the press conference, they (Thai authorities) confirmed that the illegal immigrants caught in Padang Besar were the same ones caught in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Tan: You are giving a picture as if both Thailand and Malaysian authorities were in cahoots in this case?
Jamaluddin: No. According to the information that we received the main involvement is from the Thai authorities. On our side, there were smuggling activities. Those involved were mainly from Thailand. Hence, in my opinion Thailand should take responsibility for the issue since the mayor and other civil servants were arrested (for alleged involvement in smuggling activities).
Arifin: You already know they have been entering our border. Why did we not beef up the security there?
Jamaluddin: For your information, Op Wawasan Khas (the operation against human trafficking activities at the Malaysian-Thai border) is 75km long and of the total, 11km from Tangga 100 to Wang Kelian is exposed since the are no walls or posts in the area due to geographical factors.
Arifin: Why were there no walls if it was already known earlier (that this area was a hotbed for human trafficking activities)?
Jamaluddin: We made the recommendation to the National Security Council to strengthen the security by building walls at the border.