11-25-2010 16:38 By Pooja Theresa StanslasIn Malaysia, open borders were the norm during late 19th and early 20th century leading to an influx of ethnic Indians and Chinese, but that has changed significantly in post-colonial Malaysia. The government’s choice however, cannot be between closing the doors to a foreign labor force and completely doing away with border controls. The first option will deprive the labor-intensive and labor-dependent economic sectors of workers and given the reality of non-traditional security threats the second option of opening up the borders will be tantamount to inviting transnational criminals to operate with impunity. Border control is an element of national sovereignty and when we lose control of significant parts of this through ineffective controls, transnational human trafficking syndicates will exploit the situation to engage in the lucrative illicit trade in human flesh. Trafficking in persons is estimated to generate $32 billion yearly, perpetuated mainly by the fact the risk to reward ratio is almost nil aided by natural forces of migration as well as poor socio-political and economic conditions in the country of origin and the relatively prosperous neighboring countries. Corrupt law enforcement officials worsen the situation. The seas, as an inexpensive mode of transport, have always been a popular medium for transnational movement of peoples since pre-colonial times especially through the Straits of Malacca, the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea and the South China Sea. However, the long, porous and less monitored coastlines of Malaysia has led to easy and inconspicuous access for a thriving trade in modern day slavery by human trafficking groups. Malaysia is a littoral state with 4,675km-long coastline and the growing illegal cross-border trafficking of humans in recent years has made the government anxious especially in view of rapid economic globalization, worldwide economic crisis and increasing maritime trade and the nation’s dependency on it. There are fears that extremists could use trans-border criminals to seep through the borders as evidence have emerged that extremists groups also engage in trafficking to fund their activities. Analyzing the trafficking problem is complicated by the difficulty of differentiating it with human smuggling. The latter relates to voluntary movements of people through illegal channels by engaging the services of smuggling syndicates; trafficking is involuntary involving significant deception, coercion and control of movement of victims. The issue becomes even more complex when smuggled migrants are forced to work in debt bondage to pay off the smugglers which effectively defines them as trafficked individuals. The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (ATIP) was enacted in 2007 prompted by Malaysia’s blacklisting in Tier 3 in the 2007 and 2009 Annual U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report. To date 168 have been prosecuted and only 16 convicted; 1,200 victims have been rescued since 2008. However, the government’s recent amendment to the ATIP to include smuggling of people will only hamper efforts at tackling trafficking effectively. Front-line law enforcement officials may treat trafficking victims as undocumented migrants aggravated by the illicit nature and quality of the crime. Selective restrictions in border control have led to the expansion of the fake document industry abetted by corrupt border officials. The trafficking prone areas or hotspots include the Straits of Malacca, the Sabah-Kalimantan-Philippines borders as well as the Singapore-Johor boundary and increasingly the South China Sea. Victims are mostly Indonesians, Filipinos, Cambodians, and Vietnamese with an increasing exodus from post-conflict states such as Iraq, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Tackling the trafficking threat in Malaysia is not easy. Though coordination and collaboration of national, regional and international bodies are essential in practice, it is a complex task. Vast ocean spaces and long stretches of less governed coastlines in the Southeast Asian archipelago produce porous borders complicating monitoring and security surveillance. As for law enforcement agencies, poor communication, duplication of efforts and conflicting mandates should not get in the way of effectual and immediate responses. Existence of deep-seated rivalries between competing government agencies, particularly when budgets and funding are at stake, should be minimized by having clear-cut boundaries related to jurisdiction. In addition, there have been allegations that law enforcement officials have been involved in facilitating trafficking by accepting bribes from traffickers. However, all is not lost. A multi-sector approach is the key toward an effective resolution. Outmaneuvering trafficking syndicates must involve strengthening border controls through greater law enforcement policy involving aggressive maritime security surveillance and augmented patrols. This must be accompanied by effectual anti-trafficking strategies such as victim identification and protection. Bringing ATIP back in line with U.N. definition of human trafficking is crucial. The victims should also be given temporary work permits to enlist their cooperation for the prosecution of offenders. Effective transnational and regional collaboration should not be hampered by cultural and linguistic differences and different laws, understandings and policies related to trafficking. These issues must be addressed at the ASEAN level as well as through transnational collaboration such as the Bali Process and the Five Power Defense Arrangements. Reforming our immigration policy is crucial to curb this undocumented migration in addition to greater Malaysia economic investment to generate employment in source countries. Traffickers target those who are already planning to migrate but due to strict immigration laws they fall victim to trafficking groups to facilitate their entry. Thus, a regularization policy will make it easier for legal entry of unskilled labor into Malaysia to meet their economic needs. This will also satisfy demand for cheap labor in economic sectors which locals do not find lucrative. The government is losing out millions to trafficking syndicates and a better migration management will ensure revenue from the foreign workers who will cease to find the need to engage trafficking intermediaries. Human trafficking phenomenon is governable when measures related to border security, migration and socio-economic and political factors are treated with utmost urgency and swift action. Pooja Theresa Stanslas works for a maritime research institute based in Malaysia. |
Source: The Korean Times |
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