Mass graves of suspected Rohingya migrants found in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, May 24: Malaysia today said it has found mass graves, feared to contain bodies of Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants from Myanmar, near detention camps used by human traffickers on the border with Thailand, weeks after its police unearthed several bodies from similar shallow graves.

The mass graves were found near 17 abandoned camps in Padang Besar area on the Thai side of the border and they are believed to be a part of human-trafficking activities involving migrants, Home Minister Zahid Hamidi said.

The Minister said the General Operations Force (GOF) had found 14 large tents and three other smaller tents, believed to have been operational for at least five years but were abandoned when the authorities came to the location.

"Today, the inspector-general of police (IGP) and his deputy are at the Malaysia-Thailand border for identification and confirmation. The graves were identified as those for the refugees in the human trafficking trade. Probably, one grave has maybe three, four bodies or maybe only one. So we are counting at the moment," he said.

As governments in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have launched crackdowns amid intensified international spotlight, human traffickers have abandoned camps on land and even boats at sea to avoid arrest.

In many instances, these traffickers have been paid by the miniority Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to help them flee to Malaysia or Indonesia.

The traffickers reportedly held them to ransom in the jungle camps demanding more money and in many cases leaving them to die quickly burying them in mass graves.

A few weeks ago hundreds of Muslim Rohingyas were found crammed in boats heading to Malaysia and Indonesia.

Human rights groups and activists say the area on the Thai-Malaysia border has been used for years to smuggle migrants and refugees, including Rohingya Muslims, a persecuted minority in Myanmar.

Since May 10 alone, more than 3,600 people - about half of them from Bangladesh and half Rohingyas from Myanmar - have landed ashore in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Thousands more are believed to be trapped at sea in boats abandoned by their captains.

Mass graves were discovered in Thailand earlier this month mostly in southern Songkla province bordering Malaysia.

The Rohingya, numbering around 1.3 million in Myanmar, are believed to be one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

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Spain blocks arms ship from India to Israel amid ongoing Gaza genocide

News Network

May 18,2024

In a humanitarian move, Spain has refused entry to a ship carrying arms from India’s Chennai to Israel to dock at one of its ports, its Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has said.

The Denmark-flagged cargo ship Marianne Danica sailed from Chennai on April 8 when people in Gaza were observing Ramadan fasting, and was headed to the port of Haifa in Israel, according to maritime tracking portals and Spanish media.

Spain has been extremely critical of the rising civilian casualties due to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and, along with Belgium, has suspended arms exports licenses to Tel Aviv.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal, at the weekly press conference, only said that they have seen the report of the ship and will revert with more information.

Meanwhile, a source said, “Investigation will reveal if the items on board were cleared for export and if the end user is the same as reported by The Guardian because there are items that are not banned for exports.”

Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Thursday on the issue, Mr. Albares had said, “This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port.”

“This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The Foreign Ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: the Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace,” he stated.

The ship was carrying 27 tonnes of explosives according to local reports. It was to make a port call at Cartegena in Spain.
In February, Mr. Albares said that they had suspended arms export licences to Israel since October 7, which he said made them “realise” the importance of a “fair and lasting solution” to the Palestinian cause.

The incident comes amid an ongoing row between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s party and his coalition partners over another ship, Borkum, that was due to dock at Cartegena port on Friday over allegations that it was carrying arms meant for Israel. However, the Spanish government has said that the arms it is ferrying are meant for the Czech Republic.

Belgium had suspended two arms export licences to Israel.

“We welcome the decision of the Spanish government to deny the transit authorisation of the vessel Marianne Danica, in accordance with Tratado (treaty) on Arms Trade and Spanish law,” Amnesty International Spain said on social media platform ‘X’.

The timing also coincides with the Israeli ground offensive inside Rafah. According to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at least 6,30,000 Palestinians have been forced out of Rafah since the launch of the incursion on May 7.

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