PUTRAJAYA, April 18 — The public hearing of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on human trafficking and mass graves in Wang Kelian entered its second day today with three more witnesses scheduled to give their evidence. 

Four witnesses testified on the opening day of the RCI hearing yesterday. The proceedings at Dewan Gemilang of the Home Ministry here are being conducted before RCI Chairman Tun Arifin Zakaria, a former Chief Justice.

Former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai is the deputy chairman while the other five members of the panel are former head of prosecution in the Attorney-General’s Chamber Datuk Noobahri Baharuddin, former Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail, former head of research of AG’s Chambers Datuk Junaidah Abd Rahman, former Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand Datuk Nazirah Hussain and former deputy chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Dr Tan Seng Giaw.

In his opening statement yesterday, Arifin outlined seven terms of reference for the RCI, including studying all documents and evidence related to the discovery of the transit camps and graves in Wang Kelian, Perlis and making recommendations to the government on actions and improvements that could be taken. It will then submit a report on the investigation to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

 In 2015, the country was shocked over the discovery of 139 graves and 28 transit camps in Wang Kelian in the Malaysia-Thailand border, linked to human trafficking activities, which later led to the arrest of 44 foreigners.

The tragedy, which involved victims from the ethnic Rohingya community from Myanmar and Bangladesh, also attracted the attention of the international community. — Bernama