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New Straits Times
KUALA LUMPUR - Many of the foreigners rescued in Malaysia on suspicion of being victims of human trafficking turned out to be people who came to work as prostitutes. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Abu Seman Yusop said of the 1,656 suspected human trafficking victims rescued between February 2008 and July this year, only 484 of them were actual victims.
The 1,656 came from 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and China.
Abu Seman said the 484 victims were now being housed in shelters and safe houses.
"Of the 484, 291 had been trafficked for sexual purposes and checks later revealed that 25 were below the age of 18," he said yesterday.By Lee Shi-lan
THE remaining 1,172 people had been sent back to their respective countries.
It is learnt that most of those who were deported had entered the country to work in the vice trade.
Earlier, Abu Seman launched the "Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People" campaign organised by the Body Shop and several non-governmental organisations at the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur shopping mall.
"Studies have shown that 2.5 million people are being trafficked annually worldwide and this activity generates a profit of RM38 billion for crime organisations.
"Of that figure, at least 1.2 million are below the age of 18 and they are raped, beaten and tortured. They are normally exploited sexually or for labour purposes," he said.
"This is a difficult issue to eradicate as people enter Malaysia with valid travel documents. How do you differentiate between a trafficker and a person being trafficked?"
He lamented the fact that few people were willing to assist the authorities in fighting the crime.
"However, despite the obstacles, the government remains committed to the battle against human trafficking and our efforts have been reflected in the latest watch list released by the United States State Department."
In June, Malaysia was upgraded back to Tier 2 of the department's Trafficking in Persons list after it had complied with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.
Malaysia was downgraded from Tier 2 to Tier 3 in 2007.
Abu Seman said the passing of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons (Amendment) Bill recently and -- more importantly -- the inclusion of non-governmental organisations in fighting human trafficking, marked another milestone in Malaysia's battle against the crime.
-NST
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Malaysia/Story/A1Story20100808-231084.html
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