Kuala Lumpur (The Star/ANN) - Walk into a massage parlour or a pub in Kuala Lumpur and chances are you will be greeted by foreign women working there. These women may smile at you, but they are likely to be victims of human trafficking syndicates.
According to the 2010 US Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, some 12.3 million adults and children are in forced labour, bonded labour and forced prostitution around the world. Of this, 56% are women and young girls.
Malaysia has been identified as a destination or transit point for women and children who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation.
Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to exploit a person for profit. It has a devastating impact on the victims, who suffer physical and emotional trauma, and face threats against themselves and their families.
Human trafficking is one of the most profitable "businesses" in the world, raking in an estimated 900 billion ringgit (US$296 billion) annually.
The international aspect of this makes it impossible for one country to address the problem alone.
As such, Malaysia hosted the Bali Ministerial Process - an international conference on people smuggling - recently.
At the end of the conference, Malaysia announced that migrants who were victims of labour exploitation and placed in shelter homes could work in Malaysia upon their release.
It is believed that thousands of women and girls from Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and China are trafficked into Malaysia. Not surprisingly, Malaysian women are also trafficked into China.
Migrant workers from countries in the region come to work as domestic helpers and labourers in construction, manufacturing and agriculture. However, some end up being exploited.
Since the enactment of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 came into force four years ago, police have rescued more than 2,000 victims of human trafficking; the most recent case involved 21 Ugandan women suspected of being held as sex slaves in Bandar Sunway.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said concerted efforts in tackling the problem resulted in more than 557 people caught for human trafficking and 60 were convicted.
He said 894 victims were rescued, of which 118 were children.
"Because of such efforts, Malaysia was moved to Tier 2 from Tier 3 in the TIP report in 2010,'' he added.
Since the upgrade, significant strides have been made in identifying human trafficking victims and prosecuting the traffickers.
The Government has worked with non-government organisations as well as empowered more of its agencies to investigate suspected human trafficking activities.
At the same time, the personal attention given by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein in combating this insidious crime has significantly contributed towards the improved ranking.
The US report states: "The Malaysian Government has shown a greater commitment to address human trafficking.
"It is expected to lead to increased investigations and prosecutions of labour trafficking offences and identification of victims, while raising efforts to prosecute trafficking-related corruption".
The TIP report ranks countries based on how well these nations establish standards in eliminating human trafficking, based on the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
According to a senior NGO official involved in assisting the authorities in sheltering victims, Malaysia must do more to prevent migrant workers from being abused.
"It is known that several officers from the enforcement division are working with human trafficking syndicate members.
"They must be arrested and charged in court. It is sad to see nothing much is being done," she added.
The authorities have to show sincerity in combating human trafficking. The Government must, therefore, prosecute the agents who collude with the traffickers.
There must also be more partnerships between NGOs here as well as abroad.
Illegals detained must not be deported immediately because the authorities need to find out if they are victims of human trafficking syndicates.
The Government has to act now to ensure that we build on these gains if we want to improve our ranking to Tier 1.
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