Rights group wants anti-trafficking law
Malaysiakini.com
Dec 7, 2006

An anti trafficking legislation is urgently needed to curb the wrongful persecution of trafficking victims who were forced into the Malaysia’s sex trade.

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.

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.

“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.

He added that the National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) had previously drafted a national action plan on trafficking and proposed an Anti Trafficking Bill.

“But until today, it is yet to be implemented,” he said.

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.

The same report also claimed that the Malaysian government had failed to sensitise front line police and immigration officers on trafficking.

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.

Victims made to suffer

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.

“These have lead to the victims being classified as prostitutes and dealt with existing laws,” added Shan.

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. 

“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.

“This act is equivalent to persecution of the vulnerable person,” he stressed.

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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