THE United States Senate foreign relations committee is working on two reports containing allegations by Myanmar migrants of extortion and threats of being turned over to human traffickers in southern Thailand if ransom demands were not met.
The first report contains detailed allegations about the extortion and threats by Malaysian officials and the second contains specific allegations by victims on who were paid and the recipients' bank account numbers.
One of the committee members says he received signed statements from former Myanmar refugees who have resettled in United States and had given first-person accounts of what had happened to them while on Malaysian soil.
They alleged that they were arrested by Rela and placed in government detention facilities before being transported to the Malaysia-Thai border.
They were then approached by agents of traffickers who demanded money if they wished to return to Malaysia.
Those who refused to pay were turned over to human traffickers in southern Thailand.
"It's this same pattern of allegations that the committee received over the past year that caused us to investigate the matter," the committee member said.
One of the committee members says he received signed statements from former Myanmar refugees who have resettled in United States and had given first-person accounts of what had happened to them while on Malaysian soil.
They alleged that they were arrested by Rela and placed in government detention facilities before being transported to the Malaysia-Thai border.
They were then approached by agents of traffickers who demanded money if they wished to return to Malaysia.
"It's this same pattern of allegations that the committee received over the past year that caused us to investigate the matter," the committee member said.
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