KUALA LUMPUR – Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin (Larut-PN) has denied that his lengthy explanation in the Dewan Rakyat earlier on the government’s efforts to address human trafficking and forced labour today had come from supposed pressure from the United States government.
He also refuted that his substantial response coincided with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s official visit to the Dewan Rakyat today.
“It has nothing to do with her visit because I have brought up the issue to explain so we all, both government and opposition lawmakers, can discuss this important topic,” he said in response to an allegation made by Lim Guan Eng (Bagan-PH) earlier this morning.
Following this, M. Kula Segaran (Ipoh Barat-PH) interrupted Hamzah, alleging that there was pressure from the US government which compelled the latter to explain human trafficking.
“No pressure at all because I didn’t ask to address the issue yesterday. In fact, a day after the report was published, I communicated with the Dewan speaker to discuss the issue,” Hamzah retorted.
During his speech, Hamzah insisted that the findings of the US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report 2022 are “subjective” and stressed that the government will continue to tighten its approach, including increasing enforcement actions and amending the necessary laws.
However, several opposition MPs such as Sivarasa Rasiah (Sg Buloh-PH) disagreed with Hamzah’s assessment.
“Subjective refers to opinions, but this report is based on facts,” said Sivarasa who repeatedly asked Hamzah to acknowledge the weaknesses within the government system mentioned in the report.
Hamzah also said since 2020, numerous legal actions have been taken against government officials who were alleged to have been involved in human trafficking.
“Since 2020, through Op Benteng, we have arrested 31 government officials. Criminal charges were pressed against 13 of them, one arrest warrant has been issued, while two were placed under POCA (Prevention of Crime Act 1959).
“An individual is still being investigated, while 16 others have been let go.”
Hamzah also explained that the government also arrested 40 civil servants and brought charges to 29 of them for allegedly committing crimes related to human trafficking. – The Vibes, August 2, 2022
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