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New Straits Times
13-06-2025
- New Straits Times
Human trafficking syndicate disguised as a job agency busted
KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration Department has busted a human trafficking syndicate operating under the guise of a job agency in Klang following raids on three premises. Immigration deputy director-general (management) Ismail Mokhtar said the operation, led by the department's Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Money Laundering Division in Putrajaya, was carried out upon receiving public complaints and after two weeks of intelligence gathering. "A local woman, believed to be the mastermind, and two Filipino women acting as caretakers of the premises were arrested during the operation," he said in a statement today. Nine Filipino women believed to be victims were rescued, while 10 others aged between 26 and 43 were detained for further investigation. All of them lacked valid passports or visit passes. The premises, believed to be used as a holding area for the victims, were seized along with several Philippine and Indonesian passports, and mobile phones containing suspected evidence of communication between the mastermind and caretakers. Ismail said the modus operandi involved luring foreign workers from source countries with false promises of employment. Upon arrival, they were bound by contracts and prohibited from returning to their home countries. They were forced to work and made to pay exorbitant fees set by the agency. "These women were made to work part-time as domestic helpers for multiple employers, earning between RM70 and RM120 per day. "However, the wages were collected entirely by the agency without the victims' knowledge or consent," he said. He added that the victims were tightly controlled, with their passports held by the agency and their phones confiscated by the caretakers, only returned when deemed necessary. The operation also adopted a victim-identification approach based on the National Guideline on Human Trafficking Indicators 2.0 to detect elements of forced labour, particularly among vulnerable groups. Ismail said investigations are now underway under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, which carries penalties of up to 30 years in prison, life imprisonment, and whipping upon conviction. "The public is urged to continue channeling information about the exploitation of foreign nationals to the Immigration Department so immediate and firm action can be taken," he said.
New Straits Times
05-05-2025
- New Straits Times
NST Leader: Of human trafficking and syndicates
Human trafficking for sex or slavery just refuses to go away. On Friday, the Immigration Department rescued 10 underage foreigners from a sex ring in Johor. Its enforcement unit also arrested 37 Vietnamese women and 16 Indonesian women, aged between 18 and 40, believed to be involved in prostitution. The question is how did the foreigners get into the country? Were they smuggled in? Not an impossibility given the ease with which human trafficking syndicates are able to recruit corrupt officers as facilitators. A few — with dreams of driving Maseratis in Jimmy Choo shoes — even become members of syndicates. Move from Friday's news to that of a year or two earlier, it is the same old story. Put it down to the dystopian times we live in. The rescue of the 10 minors and 53 women during the raid on a sex trafficking syndicate operating a spa and massage parlour in Johor Baru is a warning sign that there may be more of them in the spas and massage parlours throughout the country. Or at least in the sleazy parts of our cities. While we applaud the brave efforts of the Immigration Department in rescuing the minors and foreign women, who appear to have fallen for false job offers, its Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Money Laundering Division needs to put its intelligence gathering on overdrive. This, supported by robust enforcement, should be able to keep track of foreigners entering the country and whether or not they are here for the purpose they state in their immigration landing card. History tells us that not all foreigners who travel to Malaysia are here for a visit. Some, like the 53 foreign women rescued in Johor, are victims of job scams. Some choose to overstay. Yet others are smuggled into the country. Robust enforcement is the keystone to free Malaysia of human trafficking for sex, labour or other forms of slavery. Right now, our human trafficking record — in the eyes of the United States State Department, that is — is not something we would love to write home about, though we have been upgraded from 2023's Tier 2 Watch-List to Tier 2 last year. The reason? Malaysia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, though it is making significant efforts to do so, the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report says. Some of the reasons quoted for the upgrade are the increasing number of trafficking investigations, including of suspected labour trafficking; more traffickers being convicted, with the majority of them receiving significant sentences; increasing trafficking public awareness efforts, and prosecuting allegedly complicit officials. More needs to be done, not by the Immigration Department alone, but by all authorities tasked with curbing human trafficking. The Employment Act 1955 is a case in point. The Act criminalises forced labour practices by threats of intimidation, restriction of movement or fraud to induce labour or services. But how often do we hear of employers being hauled to court for such offences, despite the Labour Department having a trafficking enforcement team? From few to none. Malaysia's ambition is to make the country free of human trafficking. But ambition needs action, and a coordinated one at that.
