‘Bring human traffickers to justice, protect Rohingya’

JUAN REQUESENS, Venezuela opposition lawmaker BANGKOK: More needs to be done to ensure that human traffickers are brought to justice and Rohingya migrants are protected, rights groups said yesterday.

On Wednesday, a court convicted 62 people for crimes that include trafficking and murder at the end of Thailand’s biggest ever human-trafficking trial.

The trial began in 2015 after the discovery of more than 30 bodies in shallow graves near the Malaysian border in a jungle camp where traffickers held migrants hostage until relatives paid ransom for their release.

Many of the dead were believed to be Rohingya, many of whom seek refuge in Malaysia.

“The trial and convictions was just the first step,” said Sunai Phasuk, senior Thailand researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“The government needs to do more and continue investigations, and leave no stone unturned.”

The court took more than 12 hours to deliver the verdicts, which rights groups said showed the government was serious about the problem.

While welcoming the outcome of the trial, rights groups said more needed to be done to protect the 5,000 Rohingya in Thailand and investigate the camps where many more victims of beatings, disease and starvation were believed to be buried.

“Thai authorities shouldn’t sweep undiscovered mass graves under the rug of this trial,” said Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights.

“We documented a massive operation that trafficked tens of thousands of Rohingya during a three-year period. The loss of life was significantly more than the focus of this trial.” Reuters