KUALA LUMPUR – A motion by an opposition MP to allow the Dewan Rakyat to debate Malaysia’s Tier 3 ranking in the United States State Department’s annual human trafficking report for the second year in a row has been rejected.
Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon told the lower House that the decision was made by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun.
He was responding to the motion by Steven Sim Chee Keong (Bukit Mertajam-PH) under Standing Order 18(1) to seek leave to discuss a matter of urgent public importance.
“As you mentioned, the speaker has replied to you and rejected the motion. If you are not satisfied, you can file an appeal,” Rashid said today.
Earlier, when delivering his motion, Sim said he had submitted a notice in writing to the speaker’s office to debate Malaysia's ranking after the report was published on July 20.
He argued that the matter at hand is of urgent importance as it involves the country’s good name and economy, as well as involving the grave issue of human trafficking crimes.
“If the government doesn’t take serious action, we will continue to be a country where this (human trafficking) remains prevalent.”
He added that human trafficking syndicates in Malaysia have led to multiple economic and social problems here, including serious shortages of workers in several sectors.
“Today, many countries have stopped sending their citizens to work here, to the point that industries are facing shortages of staff.
“Last week, we heard how the oil palm plantation industry lost potentially RM10.46 billion in the first five months of this year alone, or approximately RM70 million a day, because they didn’t have enough workers.”
In the annual human trafficking report released last Wednesday, Malaysia was once again placed in the lowest tier, after the government failed to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
Malaysia was placed on the Tier 2 Watchlist between 2018 to 2020 before dropping to Tier 3, the lowest tier, last year.
According to this year’s report, Malaysia has taken some steps to address trafficking issues but failed to make significant efforts to eliminate the problem.
It noted that the government continued to conflate human trafficking and migrant smuggling crimes and did not adequately address or criminally pursue credible allegations from multiple sources alleging labour trafficking, including in the rubber manufacturing industry and palm oil sector.
The government also did not implement standard operating procedures to proactively identify victims during law enforcement raids, among other things, leading authorities to continually penalise victims inappropriately for immigration and prostitution violations. – The Vibes, July 25, 2022
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