Malaysia’s Dismal Trafficking Record [many victims Cambodians]

Malaysia’s Dismal Trafficking Record

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD / New York Times | 30 June 2014

In its 2014 Trafficking in Persons report released June 20, the U.S. State Department downgraded Malaysia to its lowest Tier 3 status. The downgrade puts Malaysia at risk of American economic and diplomatic penalties. Thailand, recently in the news for its reliance on slave labor in its seafood industry, was also downgraded to Tier 3, as were Venezuela and Gambia. These four countries join North Korea, Iran, Zimbabwe and 16 other countries as those doing the least to combat human trafficking.

The government of Malaysia has been quick to protest, charging that the downgrade was based on flawed information. Malaysia’s robust economy is a magnet for migrants from poorer neighboring countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar. The evidence suggests Malaysia remains more concerned about managing immigration flows and helping employers than it is about the welfare of trafficked persons.

The State Department report cites victims of human trafficking among the estimated two million documented foreign workers in Malaysia and the additional two million or more undocumented foreign workers in the country [including many, if not most, Cambodians]. Men, women and children are routinely conscripted for forced labor and for the commercial sex trade. Desperate Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority group fleeing persecution in Myanmar, are especially vulnerable to trafficking in Malaysia. Unscrupulous employers, recruiters and criminal syndicates operate with near impunity, while trafficking victims are criminalized.

The government of Malaysia protests that it has launched an amnesty program for undocumented workers — and that it has agreed to share information about migrant workers with six countries, including the United States. These steps are potentially helpful, but they focus on managing illegal migrants rather than on helping trafficking victims. The State Department report cites fewer prosecutions for trafficking violations in Malaysia in 2013 than in 2012, and no investigations, prosecutions or convictions of government employees or recruiters complicit in human trafficking. Traffickers, unethical employers and corrupt officials in Malaysia have little to risk and much to gain from exploiting trafficking victims, and they know it.

For Malaysia to restore its credibility on human trafficking, it must abandon its blame-the-victim approach. Malaysia needs to change its policies to allow illegal migrants to travel, work and live outside detention facilities. Trafficking victims must not be afraid to come forward to seek help. And Malaysia should move swiftly and forcefully to investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of human trafficking at every level.