Cultural reasons make Malaysians target for human trafficking, says firm

PUTRAJAYA: Cultural reasons make Malaysians prime targets for human trafficking, says a research firm.

Humanity Research Consultancy said Malaysia’s multilingual population makes young Malaysians attractive to traffickers.

“Young Malaysians generally speak three to four languages and this makes them popular in the scam industry,” its founder and director, Mina Chiang, said at a forum here today.

Chiang also pointed to the country’s relatively low wages, which can push young people to seek job opportunities abroad, often without fully understanding the associated risks.

Giving an overview of scam syndicates in the region, she said Chinese and Malaysian trafficking networks are connected with contacts in Cambodia and Myanmar, although the full extent of these links has yet to be uncovered.

Asean-Australia Counter Trafficking (Asean-ACT) inclusion and victim rights director Nurul Qoiriah said Malaysia should capitalise on its position as Asean chairman next year to play a greater role in combating forced criminality through existing mechanisms in the region.

She referenced the role of Asean Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime representatives in enforcing the Asean Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, a legally binding agreement signed in 2015.

Nurul said a detailed draft guideline on the non-punishment principle, outlined under Article 14(7) of the convention, has been prepared and will become a policy framework for Asean states by Dec 2.

Article 14(7) states that victims of trafficking should not be criminally or administratively liable for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their trafficking experience.