Malaysia has said it will draft new legislation to crack down on human trafficking and prevent the country from being used as a transit point for people-smuggling.

Home Affairs Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad told the state Bernama news agency late Monday that human trafficking is currently prosecuted using a patchwork of legislation.

Illegally trafficked people are also detained under the Internal Security Act, a notorious law that allows for detention without trial and is typically used against suspected terrorists.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Sharizat Abdul Jalil said the smuggling of women and children needed to be curbed immediately.

"We do not want Malaysia to be used as a transit point to smuggle women and children. We will not allow anybody to use Malaysia as a transit point," Bernama quoted her as saying.

Exploited

She also called for women who are trafficking victims to be separated from other detainees at immigration depots or police cells.

"They did not break any law. They are smuggling victims," she said.

According to a report by the International Organisation for Migration in March, trafficking victims in Malaysia are often exploited by unscrupulous labour agents.

They are frequently subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse by their employers, it said.

Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labour with foreign workers, both legal and illegal, making up about 2.6 million of the country's 10.5 million workforce.