THE government must release the findings of the royal commission of inquiry into the 2015 discovery of mass graves in Wang Kelian, Perlis, said Suhakam and human rights activists.

They said the full disclosure of the report, which was submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong almost a year ago, will help to prevent human trafficking in the future.

Release of the report should not be delayed to stop syndicates smuggling immigrants or committing worse crimes in Malaysia, said Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) commissioner Jerald Joseph.

“When the government agreed to set up an RCI, (which findings were to be) presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the cabinet, we were very encouraged,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“(But) The report needs to be made public because we at Suhakam also need to know what needs to be done.

“This should not be delayed. This issue is very serious and we need to know who is behind the act.”

He added that the Covid-19 pandemic highlights the importance of border control.

“The government has become aware of how porous the borders are.”

Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations president Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid said there is no reason for the report to remain confidential.

He pointed out that the then home minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is now prime minister, said the report was presented to the cabinet in January.

Azmi said full disclosure is important to determine whether foreigners or Malaysians were involved in the human-trafficking activities that led to the deaths of hundreds in Wang Kelian.

The numerous camp sites and mass graves in the area indicate that the syndicate had been operating for quite some time, he said.

“The report should be made public as soon as it is presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. It should be given serious attention by the public.”

Azmi said the government will give the impression that it has something to hide if it refuses to release the report.

“The discovery of the mass graves in 2015 was a shock. More than a hundred lives were lost.

“The public is wondering if there is a possibility that someone has something to hide.”

Muhyiddin said the RCI findings would be made available to the public if the cabinet approves them.

The hearing lasted 17 days during which 48 witnesses testified.

Twenty-eight campsites and 139 bodies, believed to be of Rohingya, were discovered in the hills of Wang Kelian on the Malaysian-Thai border in May 2015.

Meanwhile, RCI panellist Tan Seng Giaw said it’s possible that the report was not released because of the recent political crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I hope the government can enforce what we recommended. Only a stable government can make a decision.

“Currently, the government is fighting for its survival… the Wang Kelian issue has been ignored.

“This happened five years ago. The people involved could have run away by now.

“The RCI was created so that we can know what was really going on and make recommendations to the government to prevent such cases from happening again.” – June 23, 2020.