*That’s* where we stand on the human rights scale. That’s the company we share, the countries we are setaraf (comparable) with.
And on what issue exactly? Nothing less than human trafficking and forced labour - modern slavery.
Having worked a long time ago with an NGO that dealt with these issues, I want to say that this is no American imperialist exaggeration. There are hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants in Sabah *alone*. Imagine what the numbers are nationwide.
I have seen some of the squalor migrants have lived in, I have heard the horror stories of how they came to Malaysia, and the stories of how they are shipped back and forth across the border so that some corrupt officials can make a killing.
Many of us like to blame migrants for social ills and crimes, always talking about what they are doing to us. Notwithstanding that this view is statistically incorrect, do we stop to think about what we do to them?
Maybe if we stopped being slave traders and started treating migrants right, both their and our problems are solved.
All it requires is a basic modicum of respect for the humanity of these, our brothers and sisters. A change of attitude by our government from one of predatory exploitation to symbiotic equality.
And if our government won’t make that change, that we should change our government.
ps- I’d like to celebrate the fact that the work of local activists like Alice Nah, who I’ve had the great pleasure of knowing, was recognised in the report as well. Go Alice!!
pps- Let’s also take this opportunity to reflect and see whether any of our actions or omissions are making life more difficult for and contributing to the exploitation of migrants.
ppps- Slavery ain’t our only huge international embarrassment either, looks like Suhakam is fixing to lose it’s UN status.
I’ll reproduce much of the slavery articles from Malaysiakini.
First article:
The United States today added six African countries to a blacklist of countries trafficking in people, and put US trading partner Malaysia back on the list.
Chad, Eritrea, Niger, Mauritania, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe were added to the list in the annual report, which analysed efforts in 173 countries to fight trafficking in humans for forced labor, prostitution, military service and other reasons.
Staying on the blacklist list are US allies Saudi Arabia and Kuwait but also Cuba, Fiji, Iran, Burma, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Sudan, and Syria, according to the State Department report for 2009.
“This is modern slavery, a crime that spans the globe, providing ruthless employers with an endless supply of people to abuse for financial gain,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in introducing the report.
Second article:
The United States has put Malaysia back on the blacklist of countries trafficking in people after removing the country from the list last year.
The State Department annual ‘Trafficking in Persons Report 2009′, which examined efforts in more than 173 countries to combat trafficking for forced labour, prostitution, military service and other purposes, has Malaysia sharing the blacklist with 16 other countries.
Among the 17 countries on the blacklist are Zimbabwe, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.
Malaysia is the one of five Asian nations on the blacklist - the others are Burma, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and North Korea.
“Malaysia is a destination and, to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, and for men, women, and children trafficked for the purpose of forced labour,” said the report, which was released by the US State Department today.
“Malaysia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, despite some progress in enforcing the country’s new anti-trafficking law,” said the 2009 report.
Refugees ‘sold’ by immigration officials
The report referred to another report by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee two months ago which found the involvement of Immigration Department officials in trafficking Burmese refugees.
According to the report, Malaysian immigration officials sold refugees for approximately US$200 (RM700) per person to traffickers operating along Thailand’s southern border.
“In turn, the traffickers demanded ransom – ranging from US$300 (RM1,000) for children to US$575 (RM2,000) for adults – in exchange for their freedom.
“Informed sources estimated 20 percent of the victims were unable to pay the ransom, and were sold for the purpose of labour and commercial sexual exploitation.”
It said that so far little action has been taken since the released of the Senate foreign relations committee report in April.
“The Malaysian police is investigating the allegations with the cooperation of the Immigration Department, as publicly confirmed by the prime minister but no officials were arrested, prosecuted, or convicted for involvement in trafficking during the reporting period,” it lamented.
Migrant workers victimised
The report is also scathing in describing the country’s treatment of migrant labourers.
“Some migrant workers are victimised by their employers, employment agents, or traffickers who supply migrant labourers and victims of sex trafficking.
“Some victims suffer conditions including physical and sexual abuse, forced drug use, debt bondage, non-payment of wages, threats, confinement, and withholding of travel documents to restrict their freedom of movement.”
The report pointed out that the government continue to condone the confiscation of passports by employers, while employers passed the government’s ‘immigration levy’ on to the low-skilled migrant workers, which facilitated debt bondage.
It also said that women from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Mongolia, and China are forced into prostitution after being lured to Malaysia with promises of legitimate employment.
The report concluded that the government had made only “limited efforts” to prevent trafficking in persons over the last year.
“As a regional economic leader approaching developed nation status, Malaysia has the resources and government infrastructure to do more in addressing trafficking in persons,” said the report.
On a bright note, the report named Malaysia’s Alice Nah as one of its nine 2009 ‘heroes’.
Nah, who is from the Migration Working Group, has raised government and public awareness through online articles describing the plight of trafficking victims, refugees, and migrant workers.
“In January 2009, Nah wrote about the trafficking of Burmese refugees along the Malaysia-Thailand border. Her article increased local and international attention to the issue and raised public awareness within Malaysia,” it said.
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