Malaysians must be made aware of human trafficking
According to the UN “Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children”, trafficking in persons is defined as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat
“Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation or the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”
Trafficking in persons often involves the commission of related crimes including forced or exploitative labour, deprivation of liberty, physical and sexual violence, child labour, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, illegal recruitment and debt bondage.
Human trafficking is one of the prevalent issues facing countries in Southeast Asia. The region is known to be a significant source of trafficked people and is both an origin and destination area.
A report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2014 estimated that almost 21 million people are victims of human trafficking. Most of the victims are from East Asia, particularly Southeast Asian countries.
The arrival of thousands of victims of trafficking, smuggled migrants, refugees and asylum seekers on the shores of Indonesia and Malaysia and the discovery of numerous detention camps and grave sites along the Malaysian-Thai border, where victims of human trafficking were believed to be detained, tortured and buried, have demonstrated the gravity of the situation of human trafficking in Southeast Asia.
The average Malaysian is unaware of the increasingly critical situation of human trafficking in Malaysia.
Malaysians should be made aware of the situation through the media and various road shows and informed on how they can be involved in addressing this issue.
James Nayagam
The Star, Malaysia/ANN
