KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — Putrajaya blamed Malaysia’s recent downgrade on a US annual human trafficking report to “flawed” information that did not reflect the government’s fight against people smuggling.
In a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website today, the federal government argued that the US State Department had relied on “unverified information, provided by dubious organisations” in evaluating Malaysia for its Trafficking in Persons Report 2014.
“Malaysia believes that information that was used in the preparation of the Report was flawed, inaccurate and did not reflect measures and steps taken by the respective Malaysian authorities to counter the scourge of trafficking in persons in Malaysia, as a whole.
“We also believe that the source of the information used by the authorities in the United States of America were not credible,” read the statement.
The Obama administration on Friday downgraded Thailand and Malaysia to the lowest possible rating in the annual report on combating modern slavery, while lifting China and Sudan from that status to a “watch list.”
China and Sudan are among eight countries elevated from the lowest of the three-tier ranking, while at least four countries, including Thailand and Malaysia, were demoted to the lowest rung.
According to the State Department, countries on the lowest tier may be subject to certain sanctions, including the withholding or withdrawal of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance.
Putrajaya today expressed its disappointment over the report, which it said ran contrary to a report issued by the State Department itself earlier this year which acknowledged a list of “positive measures” by Malaysia in dealing with issues related to human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.
The federal government stressed that Malaysia has a “long and distinguished record” of being a temporary home to migrants, including an estimated 35,000 Muslim minority Rohingyas who have fled sectarian violence in Burma.
Malaysia also adopted a new policy last March 1 that allows victims of labour trafficking to live and work in the country, while in November last year the government implemented a standard operating procedure for enforcement agencies in dealing with human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.
“The Government of Malaysia has done everything permitted under its domestic laws to ease the sufferings of these migrants, with the hope that they would be resettled in a third country or choose to return to their homes when the situation improves.
“While Malaysia has been doing everything expected from a responsible member of the international community to address the issue of trafficking in persons, irrespective of nationality, it should not be expected to carry out a policy of treating migrants better than its own nationals,” the statement said.
Beyond its own shores, Malaysia has struck a working relationship with “key countries” on information sharing, intelligence networking and monitoring of human smuggling activities, which include Bangladesh, Canada, China, Saudi Arabia, the UK and US.
Malaysia is also a member of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, and continues to support practical measures to combat the crimes within the Asia-Pacific region, the statement noted.
“Combating trafficking in persons is still a work in progress for Malaysia. The Government of Malaysia will spare no efforts to eradicate this heinous crime and will continue to work in the ambit of the main domestic laws relating to trafficking in persons, namely the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007. This law is being reviewed from time to time to ensure its relevance and effectiveness.
“Malaysia has taken substantive measures in the past two years to improve the situation related to human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. In this light, the US State Department should reconsider its assessment on Malaysia, taking into account the measures that are currently being implemented, including the efforts underlined above,” it read.
