MALAYSIA has made significant strides in improving its position in the recently listed US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report but should take note of the recommendations made to move up to Tier 1, former parliamentarian Charles Santiago said.

Malaysia moved from its Tier 3 Watch List to Tier 2 in the 2023 edition of the TIP report.

Santiago, who is also a human rights activist, said Malaysia could move to Tier 1 in the coming term if the government implements some of the recommendations stated in the report.

“They have made a whole lot of recommendations, which I think Malaysia should take seriously.

“Some of the recommendations, which are considered ‘low-hanging fruits’, can be solved very fast,” the former Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights chairperson said.

Among the recommendations given, which Santiago said could be carried out immediately, is to make public the results of investigations involving corrupt officials to increase transparency and deterrence and hold officials accountable.

Another point was to improve case management and communication with trafficking victims, including the consistent request and use of interpreters and the Victim Assistance Specialist programme.

Santiago said the recommendation to expand efforts to inform migrant workers of their rights under Malaysian labour laws including their right to maintain access to their passports – and their options for legal recourse to exploitation, could also be done immediately, without much hassle.

“This is something that the unions and civil society groups working are already doing,” he said.

Another recommendation which was made, where Santiago said should be given importance, is to include language on protections for foreign workers in model contracts and bilateral memoranda of understanding (MOU) with labour source countries.

“This is something that I’ve been highlighting for a long period of time.
 
“Make sure that the MOU that is signed, let it be Indonesia, Bangladesh or Nepal, is actually made public and put in a language that local workers of the source countries are familiar with.

“Put the agreement in their language, Urdu, Bahasa Indonesia or in the Nepali language to ensure they understand the content of the agreement,” the three-term former MP said.

The other recommendation is to expand cooperation with civil society groups, including through financial or in-kind support to groups to provide some victim rehabilitation services.

“The government has to try to support civil society groups on the ground who are already doing the work. There are many networks of people who are already doing the work,” he said.

These are the low hanging fruits that can be done immediately, he said.

Yesterday, in the 2023 edition of the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report, Malaysia moved back from its Tier 3 Watch List rating to Tier 2.

Tier 2 is made up of countries that do not fully meet the US minimum standards on fighting human trafficking but are making significant efforts.

Placement on Tier 3 previously was due to a lack of effort in curbing human trafficking and migrant smuggling, as seen from a drop in investigations and prosecutions.

Among the parameters for being placed in Tier 2 is a decrease in evidence of complicity in trafficking by government officials.

Accordingly, the TIP report said Malaysia’s achievements that earned it an upgrade to Tier 2 included initiating more investigations, prosecutions, and convictions, as well as prosecuting officials who were complicit.

Reform recruitment system

Santiago said Malaysia should also be looking at reforming the migrant workers recruitment system, to have any chance of moving up to Tier 1.

Part of the recommendation in the TIP report was to eliminate recruitment or placement fees on workers by recruiters and ensure recruitment fees are paid by employers.

Although complicated, Santiago said the government should be looking at this recommendation seriously.

“Employers are already paying labour brokers or recruiters. What they (recruiters) are doing is, they make money from the migrant workers in their source country. Some of the money is collected there and some of it is collected here through wages.

“On top of that, the employers also pay them.

“Let’s just say a company needs 50 migrant workers. They will collect money from 50 workers, let’s say from Bangladesh and when the recruiters bring them to Malaysia, they collect the fees from the Malaysian employers as well.

“Some workers who are not able to pay the full amount in their source country, the recruiters will deduct their salaries.

“The problem starts when there is an audit done. When a third party does an audit in Malaysia, one question the workers will be asked is if they paid any money to come to Malaysia, and the workers will say yes.

“That’s when the problem starts. The agreement by the ‘big players’, who are giving the jobs, says the workers are not supposed to pay. Now the employer is caught because his workers are saying they did pay a fee.

“Therefore, employers are cheated as well as workers,” Santiago added.

Santiago said employers have to be more proactive with their brokers, in asking them to sign an agreement, to ensure migrant workers are not asked for payments.

“Recruiters must sign an agreement with the employers that if workers accuse them of collecting money in their source countries, then companies will not give them (recruiters) their part. Instead, giving it to the workers.

“There must be some sort of safeguard to employers and also workers. Right now it is a free for all situation,” he said.

Other “prioritised recommendations” given in the report were:

• Increase efforts to identify trafficking victims, including victims of labour trafficking, among vulnerable populations, including household workers and workers in the palm oil and disposable glove manufacturing sectors,

• Train officials, including police, labour inspectors and immigration officials, on SOP for victim identification that includes information on trafficking indicators,

• Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases – as distinct from migrant smuggling – including those involving complicit officials and forced labour crimes,

• Expand labour protections for domestic workers and investigate allegations of domestic worker abuse,

• Increase law enforcement capacity to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases, including by improving interagency coordination,

• Expand the mechanism to provide interpretation services for victims,

• Reduce prosecution delays by providing improved guidance to prosecutors on pursuing trafficking charges, and increase judicial familiarity with the full range of trafficking crimes, particularly forced labour,

• Increase the number of trafficking victims who obtain approval for freedom of movement from shelters. Expand freedom of movement to include unchaperoned movement, and increase victims’ access to communication with people outside shelter facilities,

• Increase efforts to identify trafficking victims among People’s Republic of China (PRC) workers on PRC government-affiliated infrastructure projects.

Santiago said that to achieve all the recommendations stated in the TIP report, it should be done through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. –  June 18, 2023.