Putting brakes on human trafficking
> 100 cases brought to court last year compared to seven in 2015, says Zahid
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has beefed up enforcement on human trafficking, with about 100 cases brought to court last year.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia has improved in dealing with human trafficking cases.
“Malaysia hopes to do better in this. We have managed to increase the number of prosecutions last year compared to only seven cases in 2015.
“I hope our ambassador in the US will engage the US State Department to (highlight) that Malaysia has improved its commitment to take follow-up action, and although there may be some isolated cases, our agencies are committed to handling this issue,” he told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also home minister, said current laws in Malaysia allow human trafficking victims to move freely in Malaysia, find jobs and receive compensation.
He said the government has allowed the participation of NGOs to protect the welfare of victims.
Ahmad Zahid said the US should also list and rank the source countries for human trafficking syndicates and not just the destination countries.
“There are two nations that are source countries for human trafficking and migrant smuggling activities, but they rank higher than us in the report – one is placed on Tier 1 and the other is in Tier 2, but they are not on the watch list.
“Those who monitor and generate the report should see to it that a nation is not put on the watch list simply because it is a ‘recipient country’.
“It is not fair for us to be on the watch list although we have worked hard.
“We are not the ‘exporting country’, but we are the ‘recipient country’,” he said in response to Shaharuddin Ismail (BNKangar).
Ahmad Zahid said Malaysia is on Tier 2 of the US watch list, according to the Trafficking in Persons report issued by the US State Department, which assessed 188 countries for prevention, prosecution and protection of anti-human trafficking efforts.