MALAYSIA remains on the Tier 2 watch list of the US State Department’s latest Trafficking in Persons Report.

“The government of Malaysia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so,” said the annual report.

It said among the efforts are convicting “slightly more” traffickers, issuing a significant number of passes for victims’ freedom of movement from shelters and establishing an additional shelter for adult female trafficking victims.

Despite these measures, said the report, Putrajaya “did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previous year”.

Under the ranking, Tier 1 countries are those whose governments fully comply with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, while Tier 2 nations are those whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to do so. Those on Tier 3 are deemed to be not making any effort to improve their record.

The report said corruption is still pervasive in the processes foreigners have to undergo to work in Malaysia.

“Corruption related to processes for foreign nationals to work in Malaysia remained pervasive, and the government did not report initiating new prosecutions or convicting any complicit officials during the reporting period.

“Therefore, Malaysia remains on the Tier 2 watch list for a second year.”

It said despite the royal commission of inquiry into the discovery of mass graves in Wang Kelian, Perlis, and the reshaping of the country’s foreign worker management system, Malaysian authorities have not, under the Pakatan Harapan government, taken a hard line when dealing with human trafficking perpetrators.

“The government identified far fewer victims than in previous years, and the authorities investigated and prosecuted fewer cases.

“The government’s victim-protection efforts remained largely inadequate, and some rehabilitation services, such as medical care, telephone calls, freedom of movement and the issuance of work permits, were inconsistently implemented, if at all.”

Putrajaya has also stopped funding civil groups providing shelter to victims, it said.

The report made 14 recommendations, including training officials on standard operating procedures for victim identification, increasing efforts to prosecute and convict more trafficking cases, and making public the results of investigations into corrupt officials.

They also included expanding cooperation with civil society, increasing the number of trafficking victims granted approval for employment and taking steps to eliminate recruitment or placement fees charged to workers by local labour recruiters. – June 22, 2019.