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Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early years
of the 21st Century gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Malaysia.htm
Malaysia is a
destination and, to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for women
and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and
for men, women, and children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor.
Malaysia is mainly a destination country for men, women, and children who
migrate willingly from Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, the People’s Republic of
China (PRC), the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India,
and Vietnam for work – usually legal, contractual labor – and are
subsequently subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude in the
domestic, agricultural, food service, construction, plantation, industrial, and
fisheries sectors. Some foreign women and girls are also victims of
commercial sexual exploitation. - U.S.
State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Kin of human trafficking victims seek
Government intervention Asian News International ANI, Kendrapara Orissa, June 10, 2007 news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=706100694&cat=&n_date=20070610 [accessed 20 February 2011] "Our brothers
(in A Bhubaneswar-based
placement agency lured seven youths of Kendrapara
District's Mangalpur and Raghunathpur
villages with an offer of lucrative job at Omega Wood Industry in Kuala
Lumpur. The youths also paid the
placement agency over 100,000 rupees for a job in Malaysia. The moment they
landed in Kuala Lumpur on January 10, their passports and visas were snatched
by a member of the placement agency.
They were then taken to the jungles. But instead of getting an office
job, they were forced to do physical labour and were kept in inhuman
conditions. Migrant Worker’s Death Exposes Slave-like
Conditions Anil Netto, Inter
Press Service News Agency IPS, ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37646 [accessed 8 September 2011] Ganesh was
reportedly subjected to daily beatings, deprived of food and sufficient rest,
and chained and locked in a dark room. He was eventually dumped in a wooded
area, but was found by villagers who sent him to hospital. He succumbed to
his injuries on Apr. 27. Pictures of his gaunt face, the horrendous bruises
on his back and his protruding rib cage shocked Malaysians. In hospital, he
was little more than a bag of blistered skin and bones. ***
ARCHIVES *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61615.htm [accessed 20 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– Foreign trafficking victims were kept compliant through involuntary
confinement, confiscation of travel documents, debt bondage, and physical
abuse. During the year there were reports of foreign women escaping from
apartments where they were held and forced to serve as unwilling prostitutes.
According to news reports, these women said that they were lured to the
country by promises of legitimate employment but forced into prostitution
upon their arrival in the country. In September authorities rescued eight
trafficked Indonesian women forced to work as prostitutes in conditions intended
to make them pregnant. According to a senior police official, their babies
were sold soon after birth by the traffickers. Exploitation of Bangladeshis in The Daily Star, April 11, 2009 www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=83694 [accessed 20 February 2011] The exploitative
practices centring Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia
constitute nothing other than human trafficking; the governments of
Bangladesh and Malaysia have not been able to protect the workers' rights,
said Irene Fernandez, a veteran migrants' rights activist of Malaysia. When they brought
workers in surplus numbers to Malaysia, they were only interested in making
fast cash. The outsourcing companies told Bangladeshi job brokers 'you pay me
500 ringgit per worker and find jobs for them and do whatever'. So,
Bangladeshi job brokers then bought the workers from the outsourcing
companies, and literally made them slaves. The brokers then told the workers
'you go and work, I will give you food and lodging'.
And the workers were put to work for two, three, or four months. So, the
contract that had been signed between the workers and recruiting agencies in
Bangladesh, which was attested by the Bangladesh government, had no meaning
any more. The question is
now, why no action is being taken against the Malaysian outsourcing companies
for the fact that they violated the contracts. Again, the governments of both
countries have not been able to enforce the rules. Malaysia has to make its
companies accountable, and Bangladesh has to make its recruiting agencies
accountable. Because the passports of the workers are being held and the
workers who don't have any job are being locked up by the job brokers or the
outsourcing companies, it constitutes nothing but human trafficking. And,
with the global economic recession, the situation is going to worsen, because
many of the companies, particularly in the manufacturing sector, are
collapsing. No Sanctuary: Trafficking of Burmese people
at the ThaiMalay Border Elaine Pearson, Special to The Nation,
February 13, 2009 www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/02/13/opinion/opinion_30095590.php [accessed 20 February 2011] Last year, Human
Rights Watch interviewed two dozen undocumented Burmese, including Rohingya, who described how Malaysian officials
apprehended them during raids, kept them in detention centres,
and then dumped them at the Thai border, often directly into the hands of
waiting criminal gangs. Many of the Burmese I spoke with said that Malaysian
immigration officials accompanying the deportees called the gangs en route to
arrange where and when to deposit their human cargo. Deportees with
money can pay smugglers to return them to Malaysia undetected. But those
without money usually fall into the hands of traffickers. One Burmese woman
told me, "If we don't pay we will be killed, or sold, or forced to marry
unknown men." A Burmese man
described how he was deported to the border with 50 other Burmese. Only 10
could pay their way out. Traffickers sold the rest: "The gang said they
will send you to work on fishing boats or rubber plantations. Some who tried
to escape were shot and killed." Local activists call it a
"revolving door of abuse". Take trafficking of refugees seriously The Malaysian Insider, January 22, 2009 www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/Take-trafficking-of-refugees-seriously/ [accessed 20 February 2011] Last week, the US
Senate Foreign Relations Committee drew attention to the trafficking of
migrants and refugees at the Malaysia-Thai border. They highlighted the
shocking fact that Malaysian law enforcement officials are complicit in the
“sale” of people to human smugglers/traffickers. WHAT HAPPENS AT THE
BORDER?
- Deportees who have returned to Malaysia describe that they are brought from
immigration detention depots to locations at the border under guard and in
handcuffs in vehicles. When they disembark, they are forced to walk into
areas guarded by human smugglers/traffickers. They have no way of escape.
They are caught and kept under armed surveillance in confined, crowded and
isolated locations, often deep in the jungle. Some women are raped
repeatedly. They are given handphones and instructed to contact family/friends to
raise money for their release; they are beaten and threatened into
submission. Prices vary between RM1,400 and RM2,500.
Some who have dared to question why prices are so high have been told that
this covers the amount paid to immigration officials. They are told to
deposit the money into specific bank accounts. Once the money is deposited,
they are brought in cars to designated locations and released. It costs more
to be sent back to Malaysia; some are released in Thailand. Those who are unable to pay are sold — men
to work on fishing boats and plantations, and women to brothels or “private
owners” who keep them in servitude for sex and/or forced labour. Those who
have been forced to work on boats tell harrowing tales of having seen fellow workers
shot and thrown overboard if they protest. Anti-Trafficking Law Rescues 33 Victims Of
Human Trafficking Malaysian National News Agency Bernama.com,
June 3, 2008 www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=337062 [access restricted] Chor said many foreign
women who had been arrested or rescued from prostitution claimed to be
victims of trafficking. "However,
further investigation revealed that many had entered the country on their own
accord for economic gain," he said. US Senate 'Trafficking of Burmese Migrants'
Report Holds Member of Parliament Klang
Charles Santiago, mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/21029/84/ [accessed 20 February 2011] The report suggests
that Malaysian authorities are in cohorts with human traffickers in Human Traffickers Get Free Rein with
Burmese Migrants in Kyaw Min Htun, Radio Free Asia, Baling www.david-kilgour.com/2008/Feb_09_2008_11.htm [accessed 20 February 2011] Burmese migrant
workers in Several secret
jails or deportation camps exist around the country to hold foreign nationals
found without papers. From there, officials take them to the Thai border,
where trafficking gangs have close ties to Malaysian officials and have been
tipped off to their arrival. vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02SOC040208 [access date unavailable] Malaysian Deputy
Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar said that scores of young women from
the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region in Ex-US Marine leads rescue of Pinays held in Malaysia Lito Katigbak,
Manila Mail, www2.manilamaildc.net/article2559.html [Last access date unavailable] Ejercito wanted to work as
a nurse in the US may alienate Muslims over human trade
-Malaysia Jalil Hamid,
Reuters-Africa, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] Still, With Malaysians
reluctant to take up menial jobs, the country is one of Asia's largest importers
of foreign labour, which makes up a quarter of a workforce of about 10.5
million, particularly on plantations, in construction and as maids. Malaysians got a harrowing glimpse into the
treatment of some domestic workers when newspapers reported the death in
April of an Indian migrant worker after eight months of being beaten, chained
up and starved by his employers in a sauce business. Kin of human trafficking victims seek
Government intervention Asian News International ANI, Kendrapara Orissa, June 10, 2007 news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=706100694&cat=&n_date=20070610 [accessed 20 February 2011] "Our brothers
(in A Bhubaneswar-based
placement agency lured seven youths of Kendrapara
District's Mangalpur and Raghunathpur
villages with an offer of lucrative job at Omega Wood Industry in Kuala
Lumpur. The youths also paid the
placement agency over 100,000 rupees for a job in Malaysia. The moment they
landed in Kuala Lumpur on January 10, their passports and visas were snatched
by a member of the placement agency.
They were then taken to the jungles. But instead of getting an office
job, they were forced to do physical labour and were kept in inhuman
conditions. Migrant Worker’s Death Exposes Slave-like
Conditions Anil Netto, Inter
Press Service News Agency IPS, ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37646 [accessed 8 September 2011] Ganesh was
reportedly subjected to daily beatings, deprived of food and sufficient rest,
and chained and locked in a dark room. He was eventually dumped in a wooded
area, but was found by villagers who sent him to hospital. He succumbed to
his injuries on Apr. 27. Pictures of his gaunt face, the horrendous bruises
on his back and his protruding rib cage shocked Malaysians. In hospital, he
was little more than a bag of blistered skin and bones. No Whipping For Human Trafficking Offenders [PDF] Malaysian National News Agency Bernama.com,
www.malaysianbar.org.my/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=9068 [Last accessed 20 February 2011 – Access is
now restricted] The government does not plan to introduce whipping for human trafficking offenders as it is not in line with international laws that seek to abolish corporal punishment, the Dewan Negara heard today. "We will only extend the jail term in accordance with what the United Nations (UN) wants," said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz when winding-up the debate on the Anti-Human Trafficking Bill 2007. Suppressing human trafficking Tan Choe Choe, New Straits Times, 04-29-2007 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] There are more than 800,000 people being trafficked — for sexual exploitation, forced labour, begging — across international borders each year. In June 2006, 19 Malaysian women were rescued from brothels in Britain which involved a multi-million ringgit human trafficking syndicate. The number of trafficked women rescued in Malaysia stood at 371 between 2004 and last year, but this could be the tip of the iceberg. The situation is not alarming. The proposed Anti-Trafficking in Persons Bill is our preventive measure. But we recognise that if we don’t control the situation now, Malaysia may become a trafficking hotspot. This is because of it being one of the most economically dynamic countries in the region. humantrafficking.org, May 17, 2007 --
Adapted from: "Foreign Workers also Victims of Human Trafficking."
The New Star Online. 27 April 2007 www.humantrafficking.org/updates/622 [accessed 20 February 2011] Human trafficking
is not only confined to vice activities. Hundreds of foreign workers who are
duped by agents and brought into the country are also victims of human
trafficking. The agents would
then sell the workers or outsource them to employers who need them.
Last year, MTUC received 400 complaints of foreign workers here who are being
oppressed by their employers. Rajasekaran said the numbers could be higher as they
believe for every reported case, there were between 10 and 20 cases that go
unreported. "These are workers who are brought here but left stranded
without jobs for months. There are also cases of workers not being paid for
months. They are afraid to go to the authorities as their travel documents
are being held by the employers. US Official Urges Voice of At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] [scroll down+] On Saturday, at a
crisis center in Miller says
Indonesians are particularly vulnerable to human traffickers because of the
country's poverty, widespread slavery rings, and lack of law enforcement due
to corruption. Human trafficking ring busted Deutsche Presse-Agentur
(German Press Agency) DPA, [accessed 20 February 2011] The victims, aged 14 to 17, were promised jobs in Jakarta as domestic workers, but were then flown to West Kalimantan province on the Indonesian side of Borneo and taken across the border into Malaysia, sometimes using false travel documents. - htcp Khmer girls' trafficking ordeal Kylie Morris, BBC News, Thai-Cambodian
border, 2 June, 2005 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4599709.stm [accessed 20 February 2011] LOOKING FOR CASH - She and her
cousin were 16 years old when they decided, against their family's wishes, to
travel to "At first I refused to have sex with men. Then I was beaten so badly I had to hide my face for a month, until it healed. Then I was told again I would have to sleep with the customers. I knew if I refused I would be beaten again. I had no choice but to agree." - htcp Press Release: United Nations, 10 March
2005 www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0503/S00179.htm [accessed 20 February 2011] The prosecution
rested on the testimony of eight Cambodian women, who left their home village
believing they would be offered work as noodle and clothes sellers in Malaysia Detains Officials On Human
Trafficking Allegations Agence France-Presse AFP, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] Officials were
caught because they were issuing permanent resident identity cards to foreigners,"
Azmi said.
The newspaper said police had also seized 150 identity cards,
including new ones with hi-tech microchip security features, from foreigners. Report Reveals Horrors of Foreign
Sex-Slaves Baradan Kuppusamy,
Inter Press Service News Agency IPS, humantraffickingmalaysiasextrade.wetpaint.com/ [accessed 23 April 2012] "We were hired
as maids but on arrival tricked and forced into prostitution. We were held as
sex slaves and forced to service numerous clients," they said. Myth 1 - After the Brothel Nicholas D. Kristof,
The New York Times, Poipet www.oneangrygirl.net/brothel.html [accessed 20 February 2011] The traffickers who
were supposed to get her and four female friends
jobs as dishwashers smuggled them instead to Anti-Trafficking Laws Needed 28 January 2005 -- Source:
thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/1/28/nation/10018043&sec=nation [accessed 20 February 2011] Suhakam said often foreign
women were arrested but the “masterminds” or “Johns” were let off easily
because of the absence of an anti-trafficking law. Suhakam
recommends that once there is clear evidence that the women were trafficked,
smuggled or cheated into prostitution, they should be sent back home instead
of being made to languish in prison. Women’s Groups Back New Laws Against
Traffickers The Star, Petaling
Jaya, 1 February 2005 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] The women, who said
they were drawn to Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 4 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/malaysia [accessed 27 June 2012] Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch [accessed 20 February 2011] Help Wanted - Background Human Rights Watch, July 21, 2004 www.hrw.org/en/node/11993/section/5 [accessed 20 February 2011] TRAFFICKING - Trafficking
victims in Help Wanted - Workplace Abuses in Human Rights Watch,
July 21, 2004 www.hrw.org/en/node/11993/section/7 [accessed 20 February 2011] HOURS OF WORK, REST
DAYS, AND WORKLOAD - Indonesian domestic workers employed in Malaysia
typically work sixteen to eighteen hour days, seven days a week, without any
holidays. Most have no significant time to rest during the day,
although some are able to take one-hour breaks in the afternoon.
Indonesian domestic workers who cared for children in addition to their
cleaning responsibilities reported being “on call” around the clock, as in
the case of Susanti, who told Human Rights Watch. TRAFFICKING INTO FORCED LABOR - I was surprised
because I had to do housework and then make soya bean drink also. The
first employers were cruel…. I had to do my work in a hurry, clean the
bed, clean the furniture, make soya bean drink from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.,
then go to the market to sell from 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. I had no
rest day, and when I got home at 11:00 p.m., I had to clean the clothes and
then iron. I slept at 1:00 a.m. Disappearing into the underworld Jeswant Kaur,
18 April 2004 -- Source: www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/MM/Sunday/Frontpage/20040418082107 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 8 September 2011] THE LINK BETWEEN
MISSING PERSONS AND TRAFFICKING - “In Defrauded labourers
return from Malaysia www.china.org.cn/english/2004/Jan/85299.htm [accessed 23 April 2012] They supposed to go
to work at construction sites and had their passports taken by their
employers. After nearly 20 days, they found out they not only earned little
money, but faced possible punishment if caught by police, since local laws
ban people from working without a permit in IOM launches initiative to combat human
trafficking UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=23869 [accessed 20 February 2011] In 2002, police
recovered 11 infants - the oldest barely 18 months - from a middle-class www.smc.org.ph/amnews/amn040731/southeast/indonesia040731.htm [accessed 20 February 2011] CHILD SEX
TRAFFICKING RAMPANT IN Maid abuse case shocks Malaysia BBC News, 20 May 2004 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3732241.stm [accessed 20 February 2011] An Indonesian maid
has told a harrowing story of how she was repeatedly burnt with an iron and
scalded with boiling water by her Malaysian employer's wife. The Elimination of Trafficking in Persons
in www.protectionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/NAP-Indonesia_2004-2005.pdf [accessed 20 February 2011] [page 29] VICTIM RETURN AND
REPATRIATION
- A report made by the Task Force of the Coordination Team for the Return of
Indonesian Migrant Workers (TKI) with Problems and Their Families from
Malaysia (Satgas TKPTKIB), indicated that the
policy that nationals of ASEAN countries do not need to apply for tourist or
visit visas when they visit the ASEAN countries has been abused by
irresponsible people who manipulate the facility and use them to send
Indonesian nationals to Malaysia to work there. The absence of the working
visas have caused many of them suffer exploitation in forms of passport
withholding, low wages, illegal confinement, even inhumane treatment. This is
because when their visiting visas have expired, the TKIs become illegal
aliens as they have overstayed, and the status have made them more vulnerable
to exploitation. Girls from China tricked into forced
prostitution in Malaysia Agence France-Presse AFP, www.malaysiakini.com/news/14272 [accessed 23 April 2012] An increasing
number of naive young girls from All
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Torture in [Malaysia] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Malaysia Street Children in [Malaysia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Malaysia] [other countries]