SUNGAI PETANI: The government will do its best to rescue all human trafficking victims trapped abroad, based on “the right to return” principle.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said under the principle, the government would use whatever methods to save Malaysians in trouble abroad after receiving an official report.
“The number (of human trafficking victims) has risen over the past four or five years... in terms of our police force, whatever rescue attempt we will make has a clear principle.
“First, the government will prioritise the right to return to Malaysia wherever they are, as long as we know they’re abroad and in trouble, the government will do everything possible to get them home,” he told reporters here in response to claims highlighted in news reports that almost 2,000 Malaysians, believed to be human trafficking victims, are still trapped in several neighbouring countries since last year.
Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim was reported to have said that the organisation received complaints from hundreds of family members of victims seeking help to bring them home, with over 1,200 victims being held against their will in Myanmar alone.
Saifuddin also said the government would use diplomatic or agency-to-agency connections or intelligence sharing to track and rescue victims.
He also touched on the purported number of victims, stating that they only refer to the number of official cases reported to the authorities.
“That number is what they (MHO) gathered. I will only comment based on the official number provided by the authorities to me periodically.
“Whether the number matches what the police gather, through family complaints... NGOs (non-governmental organisations) may have other channels. It’s important to establish an accurate number.
“Let the government act on the official number that’s most authoritative, as only through official numbers can we establish assistance through cooperation with the countries involved,” he said, Bernama reported.
Saifuddin added that cooperation from family members of the victims was also very crucial as the authorities needed all kinds of information for profiling purposes after the victims are rescued.
The information gathered so far included whether victims were naive and were duped by the human trafficking syndicate.
“Some people knew it was a fake deal but still went ahead. Others just went to gamble in other countries, lost their money, borrowed from loan sharks and then couldn’t return home, so they said they are victims.”
