Human Trafficking in [Malaysia Street Children in [Malaysia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Malaysia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early years of the 21st
Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Malaysia.htm
Malaysia is a destination and, to a
lesser extent, a source and transit country for women and children trafficked
for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and for men, women, and
children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor. Malaysia is mainly a
destination country for men, women, and children who migrate willingly from
Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the
Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Vietnam for
work – usually legal, contractual labor – and are subsequently subjected to
conditions of involuntary servitude in the domestic, agricultural, food
service, construction, plantation, industrial, and fisheries sectors. Some
foreign women and girls are also victims of commercial sexual
exploitation. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Kin of human trafficking victims seek Government
intervention Asian News International ANI, Kendrapara
Orissa, June 10, 2007 news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=706100694&cat=&n_date=20070610 [accessed 20 February 2011] "Our brothers (in A Bhubaneswar-based
placement agency lured seven youths of Kendrapara
District's Mangalpur and Raghunathpur
villages with an offer of lucrative job at Omega Wood Industry in Kuala
Lumpur. The youths also paid the
placement agency over 100,000 rupees for a job in Malaysia. The moment they landed in Kuala Lumpur
on January 10, their passports and visas were snatched by a member of the
placement agency. They were then taken
to the jungles. But instead of getting an office job, they were forced to do
physical labour and were kept in inhuman conditions. Migrant Worker’s Death Exposes Slave-like Conditions Anil Netto, Inter Press Service
News Agency IPS, ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37646 [accessed 8 September 2011] Ganesh was reportedly subjected to daily
beatings, deprived of food and sufficient rest, and chained and locked in a
dark room. He was eventually dumped in a wooded area, but was found by
villagers who sent him to hospital. He succumbed to his injuries on Apr. 27.
Pictures of his gaunt face, the horrendous bruises on his back and his
protruding rib cage shocked Malaysians. In hospital, he was little more than
a bag of blistered skin and bones. ***
ARCHIVES *** Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61615.htm [accessed 20 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – Foreign
trafficking victims were kept compliant through involuntary confinement,
confiscation of travel documents, debt bondage, and physical abuse. During the
year there were reports of foreign women escaping from apartments where they
were held and forced to serve as unwilling prostitutes. According to news
reports, these women said that they were lured to the country by promises of
legitimate employment but forced into prostitution upon their arrival in the
country. In September authorities rescued eight trafficked Indonesian women
forced to work as prostitutes in conditions intended to make them pregnant.
According to a senior police official, their babies were sold soon after
birth by the traffickers. Exploitation of Bangladeshis in The Daily Star, April 11, 2009 www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=83694 [accessed 20 February 2011] The exploitative practices centring Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia constitute
nothing other than human trafficking; the governments of Bangladesh and
Malaysia have not been able to protect the workers' rights, said Irene
Fernandez, a veteran migrants' rights activist of Malaysia. When they brought workers in
surplus numbers to Malaysia, they were only interested in making fast cash.
The outsourcing companies told Bangladeshi job brokers 'you pay me 500 ringgit per worker and find jobs for them and do
whatever'. So, Bangladeshi job brokers then bought the workers from the
outsourcing companies, and literally made them slaves. The brokers then told
the workers 'you go and work, I will give you food
and lodging'. And the workers were put to work for two, three, or four
months. So, the contract that had been signed between the workers and
recruiting agencies in Bangladesh, which was attested by the Bangladesh
government, had no meaning any more. The question is now, why no action
is being taken against the Malaysian outsourcing companies for the fact that
they violated the contracts. Again, the governments of both countries have
not been able to enforce the rules. Malaysia has to make its companies
accountable, and Bangladesh has to make its recruiting agencies accountable.
Because the passports of the workers are being held and the workers who don't
have any job are being locked up by the job brokers or the outsourcing
companies, it constitutes nothing but human trafficking. And, with the global
economic recession, the situation is going to worsen, because many of the
companies, particularly in the manufacturing sector, are collapsing. No Sanctuary: Trafficking of Burmese people at the ThaiMalay Border Elaine Pearson, Special to The Nation, February 13, 2009 www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/02/13/opinion/opinion_30095590.php [accessed 20 February 2011] Last year, Human Rights Watch
interviewed two dozen undocumented Burmese, including Rohingya,
who described how Malaysian officials apprehended them during raids, kept
them in detention centres, and then dumped them at
the Thai border, often directly into the hands of waiting criminal gangs.
Many of the Burmese I spoke with said that Malaysian immigration officials
accompanying the deportees called the gangs en route to arrange where and
when to deposit their human cargo. Deportees with money can pay
smugglers to return them to Malaysia undetected. But those without money
usually fall into the hands of traffickers. One Burmese woman told me,
"If we don't pay we will be killed, or sold, or forced to marry unknown
men." A Burmese man described how he was
deported to the border with 50 other Burmese. Only 10 could pay their way
out. Traffickers sold the rest: "The gang said they will send you to
work on fishing boats or rubber plantations. Some who tried to escape were
shot and killed." Local activists call it a "revolving door of
abuse". Take trafficking of refugees seriously The Malaysian Insider, January 22, 2009 www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/Take-trafficking-of-refugees-seriously/ [accessed 20 February 2011] Last week, the US Senate Foreign
Relations Committee drew attention to the trafficking of migrants and
refugees at the Malaysia-Thai border. They highlighted the shocking fact that
Malaysian law enforcement officials are complicit in the “sale” of people to
human smugglers/traffickers. WHAT HAPPENS AT THE BORDER? - Deportees who have returned to
Malaysia describe that they are brought from immigration detention depots to
locations at the border under guard and in handcuffs in vehicles. When they
disembark, they are forced to walk into areas guarded by human
smugglers/traffickers. They have no way of escape. They are caught and kept
under armed surveillance in confined, crowded and isolated locations, often
deep in the jungle. Some women are raped repeatedly. They are given handphones
and instructed to contact family/friends to raise money for their release;
they are beaten and threatened into submission. Prices vary between RM1,400 and RM2,500. Some who have dared to question why
prices are so high have been told that this covers the amount paid to
immigration officials. They are told to deposit the money into specific bank
accounts. Once the money is deposited, they are brought in cars to designated
locations and released. It costs more to be sent back to Malaysia; some are
released in Thailand. Those who are
unable to pay are sold — men to work on fishing boats and plantations, and
women to brothels or “private owners” who keep them in servitude for sex
and/or forced labour. Those who have been forced to work on boats tell
harrowing tales of having seen fellow workers shot and thrown overboard if
they protest. Anti-Trafficking Law Rescues 33 Victims Of Human
Trafficking Malaysian National News Agency Bernama.com, June 3, 2008 www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=337062 [access restricted] Chor said many foreign women who had
been arrested or rescued from prostitution claimed to be victims of
trafficking. "However, further
investigation revealed that many had entered the country on their own accord
for economic gain," he said. US Senate 'Trafficking of Burmese Migrants' Report Holds Member of Parliament Klang
Charles Santiago, mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/21029/84/ [accessed 20 February 2011] The report suggests that Malaysian
authorities are in cohorts with human traffickers in Human Traffickers Get Free Rein with Burmese Migrants in Kyaw Min Htun,
Radio Free Asia, Baling www.david-kilgour.com/2008/Feb_09_2008_11.htm [accessed 20 February 2011] Burmese migrant workers in Several secret jails or
deportation camps exist around the country to hold foreign nationals found without
papers. From there, officials take them to the Thai border, where trafficking
gangs have close ties to Malaysian officials and have been tipped off to
their arrival. vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02SOC040208 [access date unavailable] Malaysian Deputy Inspector-General
of Police Ismail Omar said that scores of young
women from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region in Ex-US Marine leads rescue of Pinays
held in Malaysia Lito Katigbak,
Manila Mail, www2.manilamaildc.net/article2559.html [Last access date unavailable] Ejercito wanted to work as a nurse in the US may alienate Muslims over human trade -Malaysia Jalil Hamid,
Reuters-Africa, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] Still, With Malaysians reluctant to take
up menial jobs, the country is one of Asia's largest importers of foreign
labour, which makes up a quarter of a workforce of about 10.5 million,
particularly on plantations, in construction and as maids. Malaysians got a harrowing glimpse into the
treatment of some domestic workers when newspapers reported the death in
April of an Indian migrant worker after eight months of being beaten, chained
up and starved by his employers in a sauce business. Kin of human trafficking victims seek Government
intervention Asian News International ANI, Kendrapara
Orissa, June 10, 2007 news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=706100694&cat=&n_date=20070610 [accessed 20 February 2011] "Our brothers (in A Bhubaneswar-based
placement agency lured seven youths of Kendrapara
District's Mangalpur and Raghunathpur
villages with an offer of lucrative job at Omega Wood Industry in Kuala
Lumpur. The youths also paid the
placement agency over 100,000 rupees for a job in Malaysia. The moment they landed in Kuala
Lumpur on January 10, their passports and visas were snatched by a member of
the placement agency. They were then
taken to the jungles. But instead of getting an office job, they were forced
to do physical labour and were kept in inhuman conditions. Migrant Worker’s Death Exposes Slave-like Conditions Anil Netto, Inter Press Service
News Agency IPS, ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37646 [accessed 8 September 2011] Ganesh was reportedly subjected to daily
beatings, deprived of food and sufficient rest, and chained and locked in a
dark room. He was eventually dumped in a wooded area, but was found by
villagers who sent him to hospital. He succumbed to his injuries on Apr. 27.
Pictures of his gaunt face, the horrendous bruises on his back and his
protruding rib cage shocked Malaysians. In hospital, he was little more than
a bag of blistered skin and bones. No Whipping For Human Trafficking Offenders [PDF] Malaysian National News Agency Bernama.com, www.malaysianbar.org.my/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=9068 [Last accessed 20 February 2011 – Access is now
restricted] The government does not plan to introduce whipping for human trafficking offenders as it is not in line with international laws that seek to abolish corporal punishment, the Dewan Negara heard today. "We will only extend the jail term in accordance with what the United Nations (UN) wants," said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz when winding-up the debate on the Anti-Human Trafficking Bill 2007. Suppressing human trafficking Tan Choe Choe,
New Straits Times, 04-29-2007 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] There are more than 800,000 people being trafficked — for sexual exploitation, forced labour, begging — across international borders each year. In June 2006, 19 Malaysian women were rescued from brothels in Britain which involved a multi-million ringgit human trafficking syndicate. The number of trafficked women rescued in Malaysia stood at 371 between 2004 and last year, but this could be the tip of the iceberg. The situation is not alarming. The proposed Anti-Trafficking in Persons Bill is our preventive measure. But we recognise that if we don’t control the situation now, Malaysia may become a trafficking hotspot. This is because of it being one of the most economically dynamic countries in the region. humantrafficking.org, May 17, 2007 -- Adapted from:
"Foreign Workers also Victims of Human Trafficking." The New Star
Online. 27 April 2007 www.humantrafficking.org/updates/622 [accessed 20 February 2011] Human trafficking is not only confined
to vice activities. Hundreds of foreign workers who are duped by agents and
brought into the country are also victims of human trafficking. The agents would then sell the
workers or outsource them to employers who need them. Last year, MTUC
received 400 complaints of foreign workers here who are being oppressed by
their employers. Rajasekaran
said the numbers could be higher as they believe for every reported case,
there were between 10 and 20 cases that go unreported. "These are
workers who are brought here but left stranded without jobs for months. There
are also cases of workers not being paid for months. They are afraid to go to
the authorities as their travel documents are being held by the employers. US Official Urges Voice of At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] [scroll down+] On Saturday, at a crisis center in
Miller says Indonesians are
particularly vulnerable to human traffickers because of the country's
poverty, widespread slavery rings, and lack of law enforcement due to
corruption. Human trafficking ring busted Deutsche Presse-Agentur (German
Press Agency) DPA, [accessed 20 February 2011] The victims, aged 14 to 17, were promised jobs in Jakarta as domestic workers, but were then flown to West Kalimantan province on the Indonesian side of Borneo and taken across the border into Malaysia, sometimes using false travel documents. - htcp Khmer girls' trafficking ordeal Kylie Morris, BBC News, Thai-Cambodian border, 2 June,
2005 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4599709.stm [accessed 20 February 2011] LOOKING FOR CASH - She and her cousin were 16
years old when they decided, against their family's wishes, to travel to "At first I refused to have sex with men. Then I was beaten so badly I had to hide my face for a month, until it healed. Then I was told again I would have to sleep with the customers. I knew if I refused I would be beaten again. I had no choice but to agree." - htcp Press Release: United Nations, 10 March 2005 www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0503/S00179.htm [accessed 20 February 2011] The prosecution rested on the
testimony of eight Cambodian women, who left their home village believing
they would be offered work as noodle and clothes sellers in Malaysia Detains Officials On Human Trafficking
Allegations Agence France-Presse
AFP, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] Officials were caught because they
were issuing permanent resident identity cards to foreigners," Azmi said. The
newspaper said police had also seized 150 identity cards, including new ones
with hi-tech microchip security features, from foreigners. Report Reveals Horrors of Foreign Sex-Slaves Baradan Kuppusamy,
Inter Press Service News Agency IPS, www.aegis.com/news/ips/2005/IP050202.html [accessed 20 February 2011] "We were hired as maids but
on arrival tricked and forced into prostitution. We were held as sex slaves
and forced to service numerous clients," they said. Myth 1 - After the Brothel Nicholas D. Kristof, The New
York Times, Poipet www.oneangrygirl.net/brothel.html [accessed 20 February 2011] The traffickers who were supposed
to get her and four female friends jobs as
dishwashers smuggled them instead to Anti-Trafficking Laws Needed 28 January 2005 -- Source:
thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/1/28/nation/10018043&sec=nation [accessed 20 February 2011] Suhakam said often foreign women were
arrested but the “masterminds” or “Johns” were let off easily because of the
absence of an anti-trafficking law. Suhakam
recommends that once there is clear evidence that the women were trafficked,
smuggled or cheated into prostitution, they should be sent back home instead
of being made to languish in prison. Women’s Groups Back New Laws Against Traffickers The Star, Petaling Jaya, 1 February 2005 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] The women, who said they were
drawn to Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 4 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2009&country=7654 [accessed 20 February 2011] Human Rights Overview Human Rights Watch [accessed 20 February 2011] Help Wanted - Background Human Rights Watch, July 21, 2004 www.hrw.org/en/node/11993/section/5 [accessed 20 February 2011] TRAFFICKING - Trafficking victims in Help Wanted - Workplace Abuses in Human Rights Watch, July 21, 2004 www.hrw.org/en/node/11993/section/7 [accessed 20 February 2011] HOURS OF WORK, REST DAYS, AND WORKLOAD - Indonesian domestic workers
employed in Malaysia typically work sixteen to eighteen hour days, seven days
a week, without any holidays. Most have no significant time to rest
during the day, although some are able to take one-hour breaks in the
afternoon. Indonesian domestic workers who cared for children in
addition to their cleaning responsibilities reported being “on call” around
the clock, as in the case of Susanti, who told
Human Rights Watch. TRAFFICKING INTO FORCED LABOR - I was surprised because I had to do housework
and then make soya bean drink also. The first
employers were cruel…. I had to do my work in a hurry, clean the bed,
clean the furniture, make soya bean drink from 9:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m., then go to the market to sell from 1:00 p.m. to 11:00
p.m. I had no rest day, and when I got home at 11:00 p.m., I had to
clean the clothes and then iron. I slept at 1:00 a.m. Disappearing into the underworld Jeswant Kaur, 18
April 2004 -- Source: www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/MM/Sunday/Frontpage/20040418082107 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] THE LINK BETWEEN MISSING PERSONS
AND TRAFFICKING - “In
Defrauded labourers return from
Malaysia www2.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-01/19/content_300361.htm [accessed 20 February 2011] They supposed to go to work at
construction sites and had their passports taken by their employers. After
nearly 20 days, they found out they not only earned little money, but faced
possible punishment if caught by police, since local laws ban people from
working without a permit in IOM launches initiative to combat human trafficking UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=23869 [accessed 20 February 2011] In 2002, police recovered 11
infants - the oldest barely 18 months - from a middle-class www.smc.org.ph/amnews/amn040731/southeast/indonesia040731.htm [accessed 20 February 2011] CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING RAMPANT IN Maid abuse case shocks Malaysia BBC News, 20 May 2004 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3732241.stm [accessed 20 February 2011] An Indonesian maid has told a
harrowing story of how she was repeatedly burnt with an iron and scalded with
boiling water by her Malaysian employer's wife. The Elimination of Trafficking in Persons in www.protectionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/NAP-Indonesia_2004-2005.pdf [accessed 20 February 2011] [page 29] VICTIM RETURN AND REPATRIATION - A report made by the Task Force
of the Coordination Team for the Return of Indonesian Migrant Workers (TKI)
with Problems and Their Families from Malaysia (Satgas
TKPTKIB), indicated that the policy that nationals of ASEAN countries do not
need to apply for tourist or visit visas when they visit the ASEAN countries
has been abused by irresponsible people who manipulate the facility and use
them to send Indonesian nationals to Malaysia to work there. The absence of
the working visas have caused many of them suffer exploitation in forms of
passport withholding, low wages, illegal confinement, even inhumane
treatment. This is because when their visiting visas have expired, the TKIs become illegal aliens as they have overstayed, and
the status have made them more vulnerable to exploitation. Girls from China tricked into forced prostitution in
Malaysia Agence France-Presse
AFP, www.aegis.com/news/afp/2003/AF030157.html [accessed 29 August 2011] An increasing number of naive
young girls from All material used herein
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Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking
& Modern-day Slavery - |
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Human Trafficking in [Malaysia Street Children in [Malaysia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Malaysia] [other countries]