IGP: Malaysia not hub for selling babies

Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Aman has refuted allegations by Al-Jazeera that Malaysia is a hub for the sale of babies.

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the 25-minute documentary by the media nework, which aired on Nov 25, portrays Malaysia as a booming hub for sales of babies, with syndicates working together with civil servants.

"The documentary also claims that the syndicate involved a network of traffickers, doctors and government officials allegedly involved in the trafficking of babies.

"We do not deny that there are cases of babies for sale in the country, but it was not as simple as portrayed in the documentary and we are constantly monitoring these illicit activities," he said in a statement Saturday.

He added that efforts have been redoubled with the establishment of the Anti Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Unit (D7C) in 2008 and the Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11 ).

"In 2010, we managed to arrest six involved in the sale of babies including a doctor, three nurses, the child of a doctor and a civil servant.

"In 2014 we managed to cripple a syndicate operation out of Pedas, Negri Sembilan, with the arrest of a man and woman and rescue of three women, three teenage boys and an infant.

"Last year we managed to rescue 17 women, four teenage girls and three babies in a case in Gombak with the arrest of three women," he said adding that in two cases in 2016 three men and a woman were arrested while a baby was rescued.

Khalid said the police was taking stern action and was working closely with the relevant ministries and government agencies to curb any cases of exploitation towards women and children.

"Police will conduct investigations based on the allegations made in the documentary to ensure necessary follow up actions are taken.

"The community must also play its part by not encouraging such activities which do not follow the law.

"Encouraging such activities also gives room for the exploitation of children to occur," he said.