PUTRAJAYA: Former inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar’s claim that the Wang Kelian human trafficking camps in Perlis were a “safe haven” for the traffickers sparked an argument between him and former Suhakam chief commissioner Tan Sri Razali Ismail today.
Khalid, who was the 47th witness to testify in the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) probing into the mass graves in Wang Kelian said the campsite on the Malaysian side of the border were used by the traffickers when Thailand conducted enforcement operations on the main camp inside its territory.
“When Thailand’s authorities raided the main camp, they would flee to this camp (in Malaysia).
“They would go back to the main camp (in Thailand) which was larger than the camp found on our side once the raid ended,” he said.
His testimony irked Razali who said Khalid could not prove his allegations.
“How can you say this? You must prove your allegation. This is not included in the report,” he said.
Khalid then explained that it was the traffickers’ modus operandi to detain the illegal immigrants in Thailand.
They would only be smuggled into Malaysia when their families back home had paid the traffickers.
“This is unofficial information and we have no jurisdiction to further investigate as it (main camp) was located in Thailand’s territory,” he said.
Khalid also admitted that security on the Malaysia-Thailand border was weak and that the government should be willing to invest more to boost security.
“The thing is we are very short-handed to position our manpower in several locations due to the terrain and inaccessibility.
“We can overcome that with technology. However the question is whether our government is willing to invest in it?” he said.
Khalid said Malaysia must also improve its ties with its neighbours to combat human smuggling.
“We issued a wanted list of 10 Thai citizens involved in the case.
“Several individuals in the list were arrested by Thailand’s authorities and we requested to interview the individuals.
“However, it was turned down by them (Thailand),” he said.
The skeletal remains of 130 people, believed to be victims of a human trafficking syndicate, were found buried in the hills of Wang Kelian.
The tragedy which involved victims from the ethnic Rohingya community of Myanmar and Bangladesh captured the attention of the international community.