By Patricia Pereira
KUALA LUMPUR — Stories of human trafficking are not unheard of in Malaysia. Sadly, the plague of human trafficking is still a cause for great concern in the country.
The Home Ministry deputy secretary general, Fauzi Md Isa, was reported by FMT (Aug 10) as saying that according to the latest data, reported cases have risen significantly compared to previous years.
The deputy secretary general said that there is a rising trend in human trafficking cases, with 115 cases reported in 2021, compared to 17 in 2008. As per statistics from the anti-trafficking task force, between 2015 and June this year, there were 1,972 reported cases, while 2,902 people were arrested in connection with the cases.
The Malaysian government’s launch of the National Anti-Trafficking in Persons 3.0 (2021-2025) in March 2021, its latest plan for tackling human trafficking, did not do much to improve Malaysia’s performance in the U.S. government’s 2012 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which was released in June this year.
In the report, which rates countries’ efforts to combat human trafficking, Malaysia remained lodged at Tier 3, the report’s lowest rating, which is reserved for nations that are judged to be failing to do enough to curb human trafficking. This is the fourth year in which the Malaysian government has been downgraded to Tier 3. (The other years were 2007, 2014, and 2021.)
Malaysia needs to do more to combat human trafficking, but it is not something the government can do alone.
There needs to be programmes centred on collaboration, and to truly address this heinous crime, all of society needs to get involved. Despite an increasing number of cases every year, there is still a lack of awareness among the public on the gravity of human trafficking.
Anyone can be a victim of human trafficking, forced labour or sex trafficking. It can happen to both men and women, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, or socio-economic class.
To combat human trafficking requires a “whole-of-society” approach, it requires effort from the whole country.
