Human rights group Hakam (National Society for Human Rights) has expressed grave concern that Malaysia has been downgraded to Tier 3 in the 2021 United States State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.
Tier 3 is the worst tier ranking in the TIP Report, and forced labour has been identified as the predominant form of crime linked to Malaysia’s downgrade, according to US State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons acting director Kari Johnstone.
“The Malaysian government has to take responsibility for the failure to combat and eliminate human trafficking, which is one of the most heinous crimes,” said Hakam’s deputy president M Ramachelvam in a statement today.
He highlighted that Malaysia may be subject to funding restrictions pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2000 for being placed on Tier 3.
“The 2021 TIP Report has highlighted the authorities failure to proactively identify victims; insufficient interagency coordination; inadequate victim services; corruption and official complicity that facilitated trafficking and impeded anti-trafficking efforts,” he added.
He called on the government to revamp its present dysfunctional approach and put in place an efficient and effective system to combat and eliminate human trafficking.
“The government must implement appropriate legal and administrative framework for migrants including undocumented migrants, stateless persons, refugees and asylum seekers to ensure that their rights are adequately protected; and that their vulnerability to human trafficking is removed.
“It must make public and implement the recommendations made by the Independent Committee on the Management of Foreign Workers (2019),” he added.
He also called on the government to tackle debt-based coercion of migrants involving burdensome recruitment fees which had also been identified as a major issue in the report.
In identifying forced labour as the predominant trafficking crime in Malaysia, the 2021 TIP report states that “the overwhelming majority of victims are among the estimated two million documented and the even greater number of undocumented workers in Malaysia”.
Johnstone had said elements of forced labour were found in sectors including palm oil and agriculture plantations, construction, as well as manufacturing.
Aside from electronics and garment, Johnstone also said forced labour elements were identified in the rubber product industries, as well as in local Malaysian households that hired domestic workers. - Mkini
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