Work with civil society to combat human trafficking

WE refer to the March 1 statement by the director of Bukit Aman’s Criminal Investigations Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Jalil Hassan, that enforcement agencies are working to combat human trafficking in Malaysia to improve the country’s ranking in the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons report. As demonstrated in a recent case involving a Malaysian exporter whose goods were barred from entering the United States, human trafficking will draw the ire of the international community and result in adverse economic consequences for our country.

We hope this means the matter is being taken seriously. We note that this is also reflected in some of the recent amendments made to the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007. However, it is obvious amendments to the law itself do not automatically improve the trafficking situation.