KOTA KINABALU: There is no visible trend on human trafficking in Sabah yet with the number of cases recorded fluctuating from year to year, according to Deputy Secretary General of Home Ministry, Dato’ Abdul Rahim Mohd Radzi.
He said the number of cases detected in the State was still relatively small and under control but efforts needed to be taken to raise awareness among the public to curb the transnational crime.
According to Rahim, there were 31 cases involving 87 victims reported in Sabah between 2008 and last year, which represented about nine per cent of the total cases nationwide.
“The figure is considered small but it is a transnational crime which we view very seriously,” he said to reporters after the launch of the Sabah State-level Anti-Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants Campaign at Wisma Wanita here yesterday.
The Malaysian government has long recognized human trafficking as a serious global crime that need to be dealt with through cross-border operations and multi-national collaborations.
Placing human trafficking as the second most serious criminal activity behind drugs trafficking, Malaysia in 2007 set in place the Anti-Human Trafficking Act as part of its effort to put this hideous crime in check.
The Act was later amended to include laws and punishment for smuggling of immigrants, which came into full effect in November 2010.
It currently provides fines and jail sentences of up to 15 years for trafficking an adult and up to 20 years for trafficking a child.
Abdul Rahim said 30 of the victims in Sabah were still placed at a shelter home somewhere near the State capital after they were rescued, as their cases were still being investigated.
“There were also some others we have sent back to their countries,”
he said, adding that some of the cases could be perpetuated by international human trafficking rings.
According to him, most of the victims in Sabah were from the Philippines and Indonesia, and they included men and women as well as young children.
He added that there were also possibilities that Sabahans or Malaysians in general have been victimised by local or foreign syndicates, and exploited as forced labour or for other purposes, either here or in other countries.
“It is difficult to say, but one thing for sure it is under control,” he said, stressing that efforts will be intensified to combat the crime, especially in the aspect of promoting awareness among the public on the role they can play to help prevent it from happening.
He noted that a total of 599 arrests on human trafficking were made throughout the country since 2008.
Earlier in his speech, Rahim said Malaysia haf established collaboration with several countries against human trafficking, including Australia, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
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