Horror tales of being kept in tents, chained and starved with children and pregnant women suffering the same fate began to surface. The authorities began their crackdown and intensified their surveillance and operations to catch the people behind it.
But, such stories are not new. In fact, non-governmental organisation like Tenaganita has been talking about these abuses since 2008 and has even warned of the human trafficking syndicate and its operations in the country.
It had also repeatedly warned about corruption and abuse of power of the authorities as well as the horror stories and testimonials from those who survived.
But, their warnings were not heeded and instead the authorities just swept their claims under the carpet.
Then, in 2009, a US Senate foreign relations committee report implicating Malaysian officials in human trafficking at the Thai-Malaysian border was released. But, the then Immigration director-general Datuk Mahmood Adam dismissed the report as baseless.
He had also stressed that his men were not taking bribes and there was no inside job in the human trafficking syndicates at the Malaysian-Thailand border.
(Thousands of Rohingyas and Bangladesh nationals leave their country, seeking better fortunes in countries like Malaysia)
As a journalist covering issues on immigration and migrant woes, I have also interviewed migrants who spoke about debts back home, middlemen, dashed hopes and harassment from officials here.
One even related how he was ‘sold’ over at the Malaysian-Thailand border, twice and later dropped at the Puduraya once the ‘ransom’ was paid.
The discovery of the mass graves on Malaysian soil was triggered after Thailand police in early May had found secret human-trafficking camps on their side of the border and dozens of shallow graves.
Thailand launched a crackdown on human-smuggling following the discovery of its mass graves.
The Malaysian government was then forced to admit that local authority including enforcement officers could be in cahoots with the human trafficking syndicate and the mass graves found near the Malaysia-Thailand border.
A total of 12 men were later arrested in connection to the mass graves and the human smuggling syndicate.
If only the authorities had acted swiftly and promptly when alarm bells were raised and foreign reports were released, the men, women and children who were held captive, killed and died at the camps could have been saved.
(Camps set up to house the trafficked victims)
Of course, there are some who say instead of closing an eye, the locals also could have notified the authorities when they stumbled upon disheveled men and women in the area. But, who would you trust as reports now show even the authorities were on the take.
Should we have tried harder to raise the issue and plight of the trafficked victims? Should we have used other channels to warn the authorities?
No matter how you look at it, their deaths and blood are on our hands.
