Stop ‘human trafficking’ for your own sake

 

From Mohammad Tariqur Rahman

Hundreds and thousands of workers from Bangladesh felt lucky to cross immigration at KLIA before May 31, though many of them later discovered they failed to get the dream jobs in Malaysia that they had been promised.

Now, they are in hiding or could be left stranded for months in different places in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, to catch the May 31 deadline to come to Malaysia, thousands more of these workers have remained stranded at KLIA, with no trace of either their employers or their agents.

At the same time, more than 15,000 were stranded at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) and failed to board their flights. The majority of them had been given fake tickets.

Needless to say, each of those who are stranded at different spots in their fairy tale journey had spent all the resources they had. On average, they spent not less than RM20,000 to RM25,000. Despite paying at least five times more than the actual cost, they are bound to return home empty-handed.

Meanwhile, the stranded workers’ entire hard-earned or inherited funds made the “authorised” dealers and agents responsible for hiring foreign workers awfully rich.

Once again, the story of these stranded workers went beyond the deep “concerns” of both Bangladeshi and Malaysian policymakers. None of those incidents happened by accident.

The story behind those stranded workers lies with the well-known organised fraud that continues unabated. There seems to always be an active hunting down of the culprit behind the fraud.

More often than not, instead of catching the perpetrators and bringing them to justice, the stranded workers become the victims of the legal hunting.

Jail, deportation, and monetary penalty, the stranded workers undoubtedly deserve it all for their share of the criminal act — being willing to bribe their way into Malaysia. They should have known the potential predicament in their venture.

Nonetheless, as usual, two other groups of people who are more, if not equally responsible for the crime, will largely remain untouched.

Such a syndicate cannot run without the involvement of government officials from both countries who have the official responsibilities to oversee the sending or recruiting of foreign workers.

At the centre of such crime syndicates, there has always been an open secret – the presence of authorised companies and agents who directly or indirectly deal with potential foreign workers.

The story of the predicament of foreign workers will continue as long as a handful of people, both in Bangladesh and Malaysia, continue to make their fortunes and enrich themselves at the expense of these workers.

Here, the stranded foreign workers are not the only losers. The rakyat too pays a toll.

Malaysia’s good name as a respectable nation is in jeopardy, for at least two reasons – gaining “fame” for human trafficking through modern slavery, and emboldening crimes by the stranded foreign workers.

If not for the sake of those who became victims of their dreams of working in Malaysia, wouldn’t you want to stop those criminals for your own sake? - FMT

 

Prof Mohammad Tariqur Rahman is associate dean (continuing education) at the Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Malaya and an associate member of the university’s Centre for Leadership and Professional Development.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.