Malaysia: Loopholes in maid hiring

From the Star:

By P. Aruna

The Indonesian Embassy has criticised the Government's move to allow hiring of maids without going through agencies, saying it opened up loopholes for human trafficking.

“Direct recruitment violates our laws and regulations,” said its minister counsellor for information, social and cultural affairs Suryana Sastradiredja.

He warned Malaysian employers that they could be detained by Indonesian authorities.

In July, the Government announced that employers could hire Indonesian maids without going through recruitment agencies as a way to reduce costs for those who would otherwise have to pay hefty agency fees.

The maids are brought into the country through social visit passes by employers or agents, who then get a work permit for them from the Immigration Department.

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Slavery Listed as Factor for Worst Places for Refugees in USCRI's World Refugee Survey

Last month, the United States Committee for Immigrants and Refugees (USCRI) released its annual World Refugee Survey. This is one of the most comprehensive sources of information on the situation facing refugees worldwide, including statistical and qualitative data on the number of refugees, where they are currently located and where they are from. The report also includes a section on "Best & Worst Places for Refugees", which discusses places that have made significant changes to accomodate refugees and their familes and places where refugees suffer from serious discrimination, lack of protection and/or physical violence.

In this year's report, Malaysia is listed as one of the worst places for refugees specifically because there is evidence that refugees are often turned away and sold into slavery:

"Malaysian immigration officials continued to sell deportees to gangs that operate along the Malaysia-Thailand border. The gang members extort bribes from the deportees in exchange for smuggling them back into Malaysia, and sell those who cannot pay into slavery. Men frequently end up on Thai fishing boats, women in brothels, and children with gangs who exploit child beggars. At least 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers were among the deportees in 2008. Malaysia’s RELA, a volunteer immigration enforcement militia, continued to engage in violent raids against undocumented foreigners in the country, and immigration officials caned at least six refugees—one of them a minor—for immigration violations."

Refugees are sometimes a population that receives less attention, particularly in the media, when it comes to discussing victims of human trafficking. Their vulnerability and struggle to survive make them perfect targets for traffickers, who exploit the isolation and desperation faced by refugees to gain profits. This is not a problem that is only specific to Malaysia; however without proper protection and, worse in this situation, with the sanction of government and law enforcement officials, refugees will continue to fall prey to slavery.

You can find more information about UNHCR and their resources related to refugees and human trafficking here.

Sex Trafficking from the Philippines to Malaysia

From the Inquirer:

MANILA, Philippines—A non-government organization advocating migrant workers' welfare urged the government on Thursday to forge an anti-human trafficking agreement with Malaysia following the rescue of Filipino women forced to become prostitutes in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center quoted recent media reports from Malaysia relating how the eight Filipino women, allegedly recruited from Zamboanga about three months ago to work as waitresses, were forced to work as prostitutes upon their arrival in arrival in Sabah.

Acting on an informant’s tip, the police raided an apartment in Penampang, a small town adjacent to the capital city of Kota Kinabalu, where the women, aged between 18 and 25, were kept.

“The illegal recruitment and trafficking of Filipino women to Malaysia is fast becoming a thriving enterprise and we call on the Malaysian and Philippine governments to forge a bilateral pact against human trafficking,” the center's president Susan Ople said in a statement.

Ople said that based on the information gathered by the Center, previous victims of human trafficking were promised decent jobs in either Kuala Lumpur or Sabah by their recruiters who turned out to be receiving P3,000 per head from a syndicate in Malaysia.

“With mere P3,000, the recruiter turns a blind eye on whatever fate awaits the recruit bound for Malaysia,” she said.

The former labor undersecretary said local governments must also work together with other NGOs and relevant government agencies in a grassroots public information drive against human trafficking.

“The recruitment is now done door-to-door in both urban and rural areas and the only way to stop this is through active public vigilance leading to higher arrest and conviction rates,” she added.

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Singing & Dancing for the Hills

From Mysinchew.com:

By Chularat Saengpassa
August 2nd, 2008

Music, theatre and other arts are being used as a vibrant way of communicating anti-human trafficking messages to hilltribe children. “The audience can easily understand our messages,” A-mee Biapa said.

This Lisu girl is a key member of We-Love-Hilltribe-Art Youth Group, which is associated with the Hill Area and Community Development Foundation of Chiang Rai, Thailand.

A student at the Rajabhat Chiang Rai University, A-mee is confident she can inspire younger hilltribe girls to follow her path and guard against becoming victims of human trafficking.

“We have the same background. We can communicate well,” A-mee said. “I wear hilltribe clothes when meeting the children”.

A-mee said her group campaigns against human trafficking and domestic violence.

“When the children confide in us, we alert community leaders,” A-mee said. Her group includes young people of the Akha, Yao, Lisu and Lahu hilltribes. They recently staged a performance at a mobile seminar in Chiang Rai.

The social development and human security ministry event is designed to illustrate how everyone can prevent human trafficking.

“We use art to communicate our message. Just delivering a speech can bore people,” said Chatchai Wittayabamrung, an adviser to the art group.

Chatchai composes songs for the campaign. “I show the lyrics to the children and listen to what they say. We then make adjustments and include the songs in plays.”

One of his songs, Pla aam pla khao, talks about how a hilltribe girl is lured into the flesh trade by the man she loves. After a life of misery, she returns to find her family and community still welcome her.

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Nike Contractor Using Forced Labor

Just stop it.



Jim Keady is a former assistant soccer coach from St. John's University. While coaching, Keady was also doing a research paper on Nike's labor practices for his MA in theology. Citing Nike’s use of sweatshop labor, Keady began to publicly protest the university's relationship with Nike. He also refused to wear the equipment Nike provided the University. On May 12, 1998 Keady was given an ultimatum by university officials, "Wear Nike and drop this issue publicly or resign." Keady was forced to resign.

In May 1999, Keady offered to work for six months in a Nike shoe factory in south-east Asia to dispel the myth that "these are great jobs for those people." Brad Figel of Nike’s Labor Practices Department responded, "We are not interested in your offer". So, Keady and project assistants Leslie Kretzu, and Mike Pierantozzi did the next best thing ... read from their diary.

Immigration Operatives on Guard for Human Trafficking

By Tetch Torres

From the Inquirer:

MANILA, Philippines -- Immigration operatives are on guard at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) following attempts by international syndicates to use Manila and Kuala Lumpur as transit point for human smuggling.

Immigration chief Marcelino C. Libanan ordered the NAIA-BI operatives to be vigilant after five passengers from Malaysia bound for Vancouver and Amsterdam were found to be carrying fake travel documents in a span of three weeks.

Libanan said "there is a pattern in the syndicate's movements and the frequency is rising that it would not escape notice."

"We are sending advisories to our Malaysian counterparts on this string of arrests of passengers that slipped their area," he said, adding that international cooperation is essential to combating human trafficking.

On Saturday, NAIA-BI personnel intercepted three Sri Lankans with bogus Malaysian and Singaporean passports as they were about to board a Royal Dutch Airlines flight for Amsterdam hours after they arrived as transit passengers from Kuala Lumpur.

One of the passengers, identified as Vengtespura Rao Appalanaidu, managed to escape while his passport and those of his companions were being examined at the airline counter. But airport authorities found Vengtespura Monday still inside NAIA. Vengtespura and the three Sri Lankans were sent back to Malaysia.

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Malaysian Police Work with Interpol to Fight Trafficking

By V.P. SUJATA

The Star Online:

Malaysian police is working with Interpol and the embassies here to trace and help locals who have been trafficked into foreign countries and are forced into a world of crime.

Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said such international cooperation was vital to bring to book human traffickers while helping Malaysians stranded overseas.

To date, he said over 50 Malaysians were arrested, charged and imprisoned in foreign countries for various offences. This includes the young female student on death row for drug trafficking in China. Her case was highlighted in the media recently.

"We believe that they are victims of human traffickers. Through deception they are promised a job and when they get there, there is no job. "They are then offered a handsome sum to carry something for smugglers and are caught in the process," he told reporters Monday after opening a pilot training course for judges and prosecutors on criminal justice responses to trafficking in persons at Marriot Hotel here.

It was reported earlier that countries Malaysians had been caught in included Australia, New Zealand, Venezuela and China.

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Malaysian Government Takes Action to Stop Trafficking

A Malaysian policeman checks passports of migrant workers

By Farrah Naz Karim

From NST Online:

The Government will try to help Malaysian victims of human trafficking in prisons abroad by taking up their cases with foreign governments. Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said this would be done if it could be ascertained that any of the 57 Malaysians in such circumstances were victims of the crime. He said probes will be conducted to determine the background to their cases.

He said it was also possible that women in this group were duped into serving as drug mules by human trafficking syndicates.

“We will investigate their cases to see if they have any relations with human trafficking. We have notified our foreign missions to check if these women were used by syndicates to smuggle drugs in return for money,” he said. "Those under arrest or serving time abroad were mostly young and educated females who could have been duped by promises of high-paying jobs."

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a pilot course for the Asean Awareness Training for Judges and Prosecutors on Criminal Justice Responses to Trafficking in Persons here, Syed Hamid said Malaysia faced a problem of distinguishing between trafficked persons and illegal immigrants as well as those involved in self-trafficking in the matter.

This, he said, was evident with many foreigners, especially women claiming to be victims of trafficking, picked up during vice raids here.

Syed Hamid said that since the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007 came into effect last month, some 33 victims of human trafficking had been rescued.

They have been placed at two shelters gazetted for such purposes run by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

He said the police, immigration department and People’s Voluntary Corp had been directed to conduct more raids in the move to identify victims of human trafficking in the country.

“This is a new form of human slavery and the people involved in this activity must be dealt with seriously,” he said, adding that the government would also come down hard on employers who sourced for cheap labour illegally as this was among factors that promoted trafficking in humans.

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Vietnam Police Make Trafficking Arrest

From Thanhnien News:

Vietnam- Police in An Giang Province have detained a man allegedly involved in a women trafficking ring which was busted recently in the Mekong Delta, a local official said Monday.

Thai Nham Ty, vice director of Tai Loc Construction Company in An Giang, obtained passports for the trafficked women, director of Can Tho City’s Social Security Criminal Investigation Department Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Nguyen Thanh Nha said. The ring had sent at least 20 women to Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore by January 10, when the police arrested its leader following leads from one of the victims.

Rural Vietnam

The women were mainly from the Mekong Delta, including Can Tho City, An Giang and Hau Giang provinces. Ty earned US$200-250 for each passport. He also admitted introducing some women to the ring leader for selection.

The police said they were investigating whether Ty had colluded with migration officials to get the passports. The ring leader, Hua Thi Thuy Trang, was arrested on January 10. She was a prostitute and had often gone to Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore for work, the police said.

Other members in custody were Nguyen Thi Nua and Lu Hue Phuong. The police reported the ring had “agents” in different provinces who had enticed young women to go to Malaysia as waitresses with high salaries. Trang paid the women’s families US$800 each, saying it was a deposit. Each agent, meanwhile, got $400 for each woman.

Some of the victims who managed to return to Vietnam, however, said they were sent to bars and restaurants soon after they arrived at a Malaysian airport. They were kept hostage and forced to work as prostitutes at night. The investigation continues while police hunt for the agents.

Human trafficking carries jail terms of five to 20 years in Vietnam.