Enforcement agencies are working to combat human trafficking in hope of helping the country move up the tiers of the consequential US State Department Trafficking in Persons report.
Last year, Malaysia was downgraded to the worst category - Tier 3 - alongside nations like Afghanistan, North Korea and Russia.
Forced labour in industries like palm oil, glove-making and construction was identified as a major issue.
The report also noted that employers were escaping human trafficking charges, and were either being let off or prosecuted under ordinary labour law violations.
According to a New Straits Times report, Bukit Aman Criminal Investigations Department director Abdul Jalil Hassan said much was being done to address human trafficking.
"We want to improve our ranking to either Tier 2 or 1 from the current Tier 3.
"Efforts to achieve the target will be done together between the police, the Attorney-General's Chambers and the Council of Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants,” he was quoted as saying after an event in Georgetown, Penang yesterday.
Abdul Jalil warned that the police will clamp down on human trafficking syndicates.
"We want to warn all these syndicates that we will be coming down hard on them. We will take the harshest actions against them.
"As such, they should stop whatever it is that they are doing. We will wipe out these syndicates once and for all," he vowed.
He also warned Indonesian and Rohingya-Myanmese people against entering Malaysia unlawfully.
"During the Covid-19 pandemic, our country's borders remained closed and many had tried to trespass through illegal border routes (lorong tikus).
"Don't ever try to enter our country illegally. There are proper ways to do so," he was quoted as saying.
Elaborating, he said human trafficking camps in Wang Kelian, Perlis no longer existed as Malaysia was working with Thai authorities to monitor the area.
Authorities previously found more than 100 bodies buried in mass graves near the Thai-Malaysian border.
Data on human trafficking, smuggling
The police officer then shared that the authorities had conducted 112 human trafficking raids in 2021, making 228 arrests.
They had rescued a total of 448 human trafficking victims and obtained Interim Protection Orders for them.
In Jan 2022 alone, Abdul Jalil said authorities conducted 13 human trafficking raids, where they made 19 arrests and rescued 37 victims.
As for human smuggling, he said the police carried out 217 raids throughout 2021, arresting 378 smugglers and 1,873 migrants.
In Jan 2022 alone, the authorities conducted 24 human smuggling raids, where they arrested 44 smugglers and 231 migrants.
Malaysia’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (Amendment) Act 2007 (Atipsom) defines human trafficking as situations where victims are unwilling participants.
Human smuggling, meanwhile, involves willing participants.
Import bans
As Malaysia descended into Tier 3, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) imposed import bans on a string of Malaysian rubber glove manufacturers over forced labour allegations.
Affected companies included Brightway Group, Top Glove, Supermax, Smart Glove, YTY Industry Holdings and WRP Asia Pacific.
State-linked palm oil giants FGV and Sime Darby Plantations also suffered CBP import bans over alleged labour issues.
Last month, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin announced that a reinforced version of Atipsom had come into effect.
The new law further defines terms like human trafficking, prescribes heavier penalties for offenders and includes input from civil society organisations. - Mkini
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