‘EASY TO ENTER MALAYSIA’
One only has to climb over barbed wire from Thai border, says ex-journalist
ENTERING Malaysia from Thailand is as simple as hiking and climbing over barbed wire, said former Malay Mail journalist S. Arulldass.
He said he started investigating border security after receiving a tip-off on the existence of illegal immigrant camps in Wang Kelian, Perlis, located near the Malaysia-Thailand border while covering an assignment in Jitra, Kedah, on March 6, 2015.
Arulldass, the 21st witness called to testify before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the Wang Kelian illegal immigrant camp and mass graves case, said the tip-off came from a caretaker at the Perlis State Park, who informed him of the presence of police and ambulances in Wang Kelian.
Due to the challenging terrain, he said he failed to reach the site despite making several visits.
Arulldass said he did not file any story as he did not have the proof to back it up.
“I left the story without going much deeper, but wrote about other stories on migrants entering our borders freely.
“That is until April 30 when the Thai authorities discovered mass graves on their side of the border.
“My editor told me to cover the issue since it was my ‘baby’.
“I went to Padang Besar on May 2 as I heard that a victim who was rescued from the campsite was admitted to hospital.
“I didn’t manage to interview him, so I came back and wrote a story based on what I had heard in March,” he told the sevenmember RCI panel.
On May 9, 2015, Arulldass attended a press conference given by the Haatyai police and followed the Thai armed forces into the jungle to find the camps.
Four days later, he received a call from two Thai men whom he met at the press conference.
“(The men) asked me if I wanted to go to the campsite.
“After consulting with my editors, I decided to take the risk and meet them in Padang Besar at 2pm.
“From there, we went to Ban Talo, Thailand, which is located across the border from Wang Kelian.”
He said after a strenuous walk up a hill, the trio and Malay Mail photographer Mohd Sayuti Zainudin reached a site with a borderstone and barbed wire.
“There was no wall or fencing. We could get over the barbed wire to enter Malaysia from there easily.”
He said the group found the site in question and counted more than 15 graves located some 200m from an abandoned camp believed to have held illegal immigrants.
“I was in shock when I saw the graves covered with tree leaves.
“How could someone bury people in such an area?
“I later learnt that the site is in Lubuk Sireh. We didn’t see any Malaysian police during our inspection.
“We didn’t explore other paths because of the limited time, but I can say it is easier to reach the camp from the Thai side than from Malaysia.”
He said on May 25, the Malaysian authorities took the media to the site in Wang Kelian, but this had been covered by a colleague.
The RCI is set up to look into the March 2015 discovery of illegal immigrants, transit camps and 147 graves in Wang Kelian.
All in, 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 from Myanmar and Bangladesh, attracted the attention of the international community.
The RCI panel is led by former chief justice Tun Ariffin Zakaria, with former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Norian Mai as his deputy.
The other members of the RCI 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 ambassador to Thailand Datuk Nazirah Hussin and former Public Accounts Committee deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw.