Malaysia’s deputy home minister says 139 uncovered graves, which are believed to contain the corpses of trafficked migrants, appear to hold one body each.
Officials had expected to find mass graves on the site in Wang Kelian, at the Malaysia-Thai border.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and police have since arrested two police officials suspected of involvement in transporting migrants, specifically in relation to the discovered graves.
A further ten people have been detained in on unrelated charges connected to human trafficking.
Several of the victims are believed to be stateless Rohingya Muslims. In May, 2015, over 3,000 migrants, mostly hailing from Myanmar and Bangladesh, arrived by boat in Malaysia and Indonesia.
A protest in Myanmar – not known for having a good human rights record – saw hundreds take to the streets. Many were angry at foreign criticism of the way the country is dealing with the Rohingya people.
The protest’s organiser denounced the United