Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
Rights group Labour Resource Centre (LRC) secretariat member K Shan said at
present Malaysia does not have a law that specifically addresses the issues
of human trafficking.
<p>He said that existing laws such as the Penal Code and the Immigration Act had
been used on these foreign sex workers without proper documentation, even though
they were the victims.</p>
<p>“The victims often get detained, fined and deported without any access
to services or redress without pursuing criminal or civil cases,” said
Shan in a statement.</p>
<p>He added that the National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) had previously
drafted a national action plan on trafficking and proposed an Anti Trafficking
Bill.</p>
<p>“But until today, it is yet to be implemented,” he said.</p>
<p>He said that according to the 2005 US Department of State Human Rights Report
on Malaysia, many foreigners are found to be possible trafficking victims.</p>
<p>The same report also claimed that the Malaysian government had failed to sensitise
front line police and immigration officers on trafficking.</p>
<p>Shan said sources have revealed that arresting officers often resort to simplistic
questioning which results in classifying such cases as willful involvement in
the sex trade.</p>
<p><b>Victims made to suffer</b></p>
<p>He adds that since there are no adequate witness protection system in place,
there were also no attention to the threats faced by the victims and their families
by the person’s trafficker and trafficking ring.</p>
<p>“These have lead to the victims being classified as prostitutes and dealt
with existing laws,” added Shan.</p>
<p>Shan also criticised Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharom who told
the Dewan Rakyat on Monday that 15,500 foreign women had been arrested for prostitution
from 2004 to July 2006. </p>
<p>“It is a concern to see the minister playing the role of the judiciary
in concluding that the arrested persons are prostitutes hence putting the arrested
persons in a position of condemnation,” he said.</p>
<p>“This act is equivalent to persecution of the vulnerable person,”
he stressed.</p>
<p>Shan said the vast number of detainees as revealed by Johari signaled that
an independent and specialised body must be formed to handle matter of trafficking.
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