Step up against corruption to improve rating in anti-trafficking report, NGO says
If Malaysia wants to improve its rating on the US Trafficking In Persons Report, it needs to immediately step up against corruption to combat human trafficking in the country, said migrant rights NGO Tenaganita.
This comes after this year’s US Trafficking In Persons Report released by the US State Department on June 25 revealed that Malaysia was on the Tier 2 watchlist.
“The most immediate step is for Malaysia to have the fortitude to buck up to fight corruption. If this fails we will be at the same position or even at Tier 3 next year...
If Malaysia wants to improve its rating on the US Trafficking In Persons Report, it needs to immediately step up against corruption to combat human trafficking in the country, said migrant rights NGO Tenaganita.
This comes after this year’s US Trafficking In Persons Report released by the US State Department on June 25 revealed that Malaysia was on the Tier 2 watchlist.
“The most immediate step is for Malaysia to have the fortitude to buck up to fight corruption. If this fails we will be at the same position or even at Tier 3 next year.
“Many of our efforts and initiatives in the past years to combat human trafficking have failed simply because of corruption which is so embedded in all our systems.
“Malaysia continues to be the hub of human trafficking for that very reason, so there is a burning need for all to come together to fight corruption without fear or favour,” said Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das in a statement today.
Putrajaya also needs to strengthen the competencies of the prosecutors and enforcement officers as well as increase transparency in their case management and prosecutions of human trafficking cases, she said.
This can be done by establishing a review committee within the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrant (Mapo) to review the handling of all human trafficking cases.
"This is crucial for the way forward in the right direction because transparency is critical especially where state actors may work hand-in-glove with human traffickers," Glorene said.
Mapo is working hard to bring about changes by putting together the National Action Plan on Anti-Trafficking of Persons, she said, but it is time that different ministries and authorities start listening to the victims, civil societies and NGOs.
"We cannot just talk about victim-centred approaches without placing the victim or survivors' needs at the centre of the discussions, debates and actions.
"Until and unless the key players in the different government are prepared to listen, sit together, debate and change the style of working, we will continue to be in Tier 2 and 3 of the watchlist.
"There is no way out, we cannot 'hoodwink' ourselves, Malaysians and the global community with national action plans," she said.
Another reason why Malaysia struggles to handle human trafficking is because there appears to be different understandings of what human trafficking is, she explained.
Each ministry, enforcement unit, Mapo and the civil societies have different interpretations of what human trafficking is, she said.
"We are constantly giving excuses and justifications for our failure to identify victims based on the misconception that migrants and trafficked victims are 'bad people' and therefore deported without delay.
"What is even worse is that many victims or survivors of human trafficking are charged for offences under the Immigration Act and penalised instead of being protected," she said.
As long as the authorities, as well as the Attorney-General's Chambers, continue to labour under these misconceptions, human trafficking will not be a priority agenda in Malaysia, she said.
Tenaganita consultant Aegile Fernandez said she empathises with the victims who have to go back "empty-handed" without justice given to them.
"We do not know where exactly Malaysia is going on the road to combating human trafficking.
"I feel the same way as the victims of trafficking that there is no hope here - for the victims are not given their rights or listened to, but we give so-called rights to the perpetrators," she said.
Glorene urged the authorities to have the courage to stand against the perpetrators of human trafficking rather than choosing to prosecute and punish the innocent victims.
"Let's stop simply having diplomatic handshakes, but sit together seriously with other stakeholders to discuss critical issues that concern the heinous crime against humanity - human trafficking for once and for all," she said.
