The Malaysian governments recent efforts to combat human trafficking has been deemed as “too little, too late” by Yeo Bee Yin, State Assemblywoman for Damansara Utama. Following the downgrading of Malaysia to Tier 3 in the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Reports by the U S State Department on 20 June 2014, Malaysia now sits at the lowest status in human trafficking after being at Tier 2 for 4 years.

“Such a downgrade is a shame to us as we are dumped into the same category with some of the world’s most lawless, dysfunctional and repressive regimes such as Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe and North Korea,” she said.

On Monday, The Foreign Affairs Ministry has issued a statement to urge the U.S State Department to reconsider its assessment, arguing that the information used to prepare the report was flawed, inaccurate and did not reflect the steps taken by Malaysian trafficking to combat human-trafficking.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry had listed down some of the efforts done by the Malaysian government in combatting human-trafficking, including a new policy, which came into effect on March 1, 2014, allowing the victims of labour trafficking to work and reside in Malaysia; the launching of the standard operating procedure (SOP) for enforcement agencies in November 2013; and a new pilot project finalized in March 2014 to establish a shelter home with NGO for the victims of human-trafficking.

However, Yeo Bee Yin questioned Putrajaya’s seriousness in fighting human trafficking as the government has sat on the issue for 4 year of being on the watchlist at the Tier 2.

Due to this the country could risk being subjected to sanctions, said the Damansara Utama Assemblywoman.

Work with credible NGOs to battle human trafficking

One of the plausible efforts that was highlighted by Yeo Bee Yin is cooperation with the NGOs.

“We hope that the government can increase the funding to anti human-trafficking NGOs who have proven track records. In addition, the government should also leverage on the expertise and experiences of the NGOs in government facilities,” she said, adding that the government should work more closely with the NGOs who already have experiences in these works, instead of relying on its own personnel.

Yeo also reminded that the fight against human trafficking was about human life and dignity, and not just particularly about the TIP report.

“The victims of human trafficking may come from foreign lands but they shall not be mistreated and robed of basic needs and dignity on our land,” said Yeo. -TheRocket