Briefs | Thailand – Police dig up 26 bodies at suspected trafficking camp

Thai police trekked into the mountains and dug up 26 bodies from dozens of shallow graves at an abandoned jungle camp that’s been linked to human trafficking networks, which activists say are “out of control” in the Southeast Asian country. A lone survivor, now hospitalized with severe malnutrition, told authorities smugglers escaped days earlier with around 100 Rohingya Muslims, a long-persecuted religious minority in neighboring Myanmar. Police Gen. Jarumporn Suramanee, who oversaw the excavations in southern Thailand, said Saturday it would take time to determine the victims’ identities and cause of death. “We will have to wait for the DNA test results and analysis from other evidence,” he told The Associated Press. He said that 32 graves were found scattered in Padang Besar, a sub-district in Songkhla province, but some turned out to be empty. He did not expect the death toll to rise above 26.The discovery of a hidden mountain camp in southern Thailand, long considered a regional trafficking hub for migrants seeking a better life in third countries, was a sharp reminder that little has changed despite repeated assurances by authorities that they are addressing the root causes.

Sri Lanka – Kerry pledges closer US ties with reform-minded new gov’t

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday championed the new Sri Lankan government’s push for democratic reform and promised closer ties with the strategically located Indian Ocean nation. “In this journey to restore your democracy, the American people stand with you,” said Kerry, on the first visit to the island in a decade by the top U.S. diplomat. Kerry met with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Yesterday, he planned to see leaders from the Tamil minority. Sri Lanka’s government is determined to end years of international isolation linked to its long war with Tamil separatists. “We intend to broaden and deepen our partnership with you,” Kerry said. He said the countries would start an annual partnership dialogue and that U.S. officials would provide technical assistance to Colombo on a range of matters, including anti-corruption efforts and returning stolen assets. Samaraweera said that Kerry’s visit “signifies our little island nation’s return to the center stage of international affairs.” The minister said Sri Lanka would become a “full-fledged parliamentary democracy” and an “investor’s paradise.”