TODAY as Muslims all over the world celebrate and welcome Awal Muharram, it is also the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.
For years Malaysia has been on the Tier 2 watchlist of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. For the year 2021, the country has fallen into the Tier 3 watchlist, the lowest rung in the list and amongst countries that have grave human rights violations such as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iran, North Korea, Syria, South Sudan, Syria and even Russia, which is still hammering Ukraine as we speak.
Countries that have been in civil wars, political instability, and have some of the gravest human rights violations in the world.
To date, there has been no statement yet from the newly minted Suhakam chairman Datuk Rahmat Mohamad, nor other commissioners.
Worse still, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin claimed that the US Trafficking in Persons Report that pushed Malaysia to a Tier 3 was not reflective of the government's efforts to counter trafficking.
Perhaps it is time Hamzah took his head out of the sand and took a good hard look at data, statistics and the faces of victims of trafficking and the evil faces of the traffickers – even up to the involvement of officers in his own ministry.
The evidence is glaring and the reasons numerous but if the government has the attitude of “we know best” then it is likely the government is part of the problem and not the solution.
In other words, the government will enable trafficking to grow if not addressed seriously.
Hamzah in a press conference said that the US report was subjective and included perceptions on Malaysia’s efforts to counter human trafficking.
He mentioned that this included employers and employees who were in vulnerable and exploitable working environments, for example, torture; confiscating and withholding the passports of migrant workers; working illegally; employers who evade paying salaries; and lack of proper housing and accommodation for migrant workers.
He failed to mention the flourishing sex-trafficking ring in Malaysia that is fuelled by a lack of enforcement, corruption and the lucrative income of the flesh trade.
You can ask any person in the street if the issues mentioned by the home minister were real and every single one will agree that they have either heard, seen or witnessed these violations firsthand.
On top of that, this year alone there have been numerous reports in the press on enforcement officers probed for their involvement in trafficking syndicates.
While I welcome stiffer penalties, and the road map of the National Action Plan on Anti-Trafficking in Persons in place from 2021 to 2025, the prospects of an improvement and an upgrade to Tier 2 remains bleak if the matter is not addressed holistically.
In October 2021, the finance minister, in his budget speech revealed that “the government will add eight border control posts under Pasukan Gerakan Am including in Pagalungan in Sabah and Temong Mura in Sarawak to improve border monitoring and enforcement” and “four new immigration access points including in Telok Melano and Baleh in Sarawak to meet the needs of increased cross border traffic following Indonesia’s plan to move its capital to Kalimantan and the opening of the Telok Melano line under the Pan Borneo Highway”.
What happened at these border control posts and immigration access points? What happened to the CCTVs installed at the borders?
The TIP report stated that the government did not “prosecute or convict, officials who were allegedly complicit in trafficking-related crimes”.
Why were they not prosecuted or convicted? Who is protecting them? Was the decision to not prosecute and convict from the attorney-general?
Malaysians must know, with certainty, the facts on why no official has been prosecuted?
A royal commission must be set up as a body to scrutinise and monitor the government's efforts in fighting trafficking, and it should consist of men and women whose professional opinions be taken seriously by the government and acted on instead of an internal movement to counter this age-old trade.
In addition, the commission should also keep a close tab on the prosecution and conviction of enforcement officials implicated in human trafficking in Malaysia, as well as the efficiency of the devices, instruments and technologies invested into keeping our borders safe as well as to nab human trafficking syndicates.
As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, it is disastrous that we have dropped a rung to the lowest at Tier 3.
The downgrade must be taken and reacted to seriously, and not just with lip service to pander to the masses.
Let us never forget the lives of innocent men, women and children – all victims of human trafficking – in the damning discovery of mass graves in Wang Kelian, on Malaysian soil, bordering the south of Thailand.
Locals will tell you that it is a “normal occurrence” to encounter traffickers and trafficked victims on an almost daily basis in and around the village.
And this went on for years before the gruesome discovery in May 2015. Malaysia was in Tier 2 at that time.
I call on the government to ditch the defensive attitude and “government knows best” mindset to ensure we never have to bear witness to a repeat of Wang Kelian ever again. – The Vibes, July 30, 2022
Kasthuri Patto is Batu Kawan MP and DAP spokesman for international affairs
