BLACKLIST - Gov't has head in the sand

Opposition parliamentarians have expressed their disgust with the government for denying that Malaysia is battling a major human trafficking problem.

Speaking to reporters in the Parliament lobby, MP Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) questioned Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on the claims by American senator Richard Lugar on the involvement of government officials in the trafficking of Burmese refugees.

“The answer from the minister is that (since) there is no evidence (of Lugar’s claims), there will be no action taken despite that this is a serious issue,” said Tian Chua.

Party colleague MP Dr Fuziah Salleh (PKR-Kuantan) is similarly dismayed by the government’s ‘head in the sand’ posture.

“Their answer reflects the attitude of the government - that the Barisan Nasional is in a state of denial,” she said.

“How can we solve our problems if we are going to keep denying them? The reports by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) that was brought up by Lugar were based on accounts from the victims (of human trafficking).”

Malaysia has yesterday been blacklisted by the United States for not doing enough to combat human trafficking.

A total of 17 out of 173 countries surveyed are on the list, including Sudan, Zimbabwe, North Korea and Cuba.

Malaysia is the one of five Asian nations blacklisted - the others are Burma, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and North Korea.

According to the US State Department’s annual 'Trafficking in Persons Report' released yesterday, this is the third time Malaysia has been thrown into the dreaded “Tier 3" category - first in 2001 and later in 2007.

Gov’t has 90 days to respond

MP R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) stressed that Malaysia was cited in the report not only as a transit point, but also as a destination for human trafficking.

“Another important issue raised is the status of foreign workers in our country, and (again) this issue is not being addressed by our government,” he added.

According to Tian Chua, the government has 90 days to give a response the report. “If no action is taken, we will remain in Tier 3,” he added.

Meanwhile, MP Charles Santiago (DAP-Klang) lamented that the country could face sanctions from the US, which is Malaysia’s largest trading partner.

“Initially when the human trafficking issue cropped up last year in an investigative programme of ntv7, I wrote to then Home Minister (Syed Hamid Albar) to probe into the matter,” he said.

Although the minister had promised to set up a committee to investigate the problem, the committee was never formed and the issue was left unresolved.

“I was in Kota Kinabalu last month and I was told by a reliable source that Philippine males are being kidnapped and forced to work in plantations,” said Santiago.

He added that the credibility of the government was in jeopardy as it was seen to be promoting the human trade together with the police and immigration officials.

“The prime minister’s ‘People First, Performance Now’ motto should not only apply to Malaysians but to everyone,” he said.

Something ‘fishy’ about the report

Meanwhile, Dewan Rakyat's deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Jaafar lashed out at the US for using the human trafficking report as a “political weapon”.

He claimed there was something “fishy” about the report.

“In 2006, when our country did not have the human trafficking act, the US said Malaysia failed to fulfil the United Nations regulations, when in fact some other countries did not have the act too,” said Junaidi in defence of Malaysia.

“(But) when we have enacted the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007, they did not raise our position from ‘Tier 3' to ‘Tier 2'... so there is something suspicious about this,” he said at a press conference at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Wan Junaidi is not quite right. Last year, Malaysia was removed from the blacklist and moved to ‘Tier 2 watchlist’, and the report cited the anti-trafficking act as one of the key reasons.

With regards the claims of immigration officials being involved in human trafficking, Wan Junaidi said: “I deny 100 percent that our officials are involved in the crime as there is no concrete evidence to the allegations.”

Moreover, he described the allegations as a misunderstanding and added that both the police and immigration officials are committed in doing their jobs well.

“We have a geographical weakness as we are smack in the middle of other Asean countries, which makes our border a frequent transit point,” he said.

Related reports

Malaysia blacklisted for human trafficking

No visible measures taken by gov't

M'sia, 6 African nations join 'modern slavery' list

Country pays for 'arrogance'

Not enough bite in enforcement, says US envoy

Outcry over human trafficking blacklist