KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — Malaysia will improve its anti-human smuggling efforts after the US government downgraded the country’s ranking in its latest annual report, Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
Muhyiddin, who is only about two months in his new role, said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is committed to combating human trafficking with various measures.
The measures will include “increasing efforts in the aspect of preventing human trafficking, through close cooperation with NGOs, industries and increasing integrated action between agencies”, he said in a statement today.
He said the government will also make significant improvements on labour laws, including the implementation of foreign labour levy by employers that have started since January 1 and the amendment of the Private Employment Agencies Act to increase penalties on agencies that fail to comply with labour laws.
He said the government will consider proposals to amend the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 that focuses on protection of human trafficking victims and prevention by increasing the penalties.
The government will also ensure the improvement in implementation of rules permitting human trafficking victims to move about and work, while saying that there will be a holistic review of the management of foreign labour to ensure their rights and welfare are protected.
The US State Department had in its United States Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report for 2018 downgraded Malaysia again to the Tier 2 watch list, down from the previous Tier 2 rank in 2017.
Muhyiddin said the report will serve as a guide for Malaysia to improve its anti-human trafficking efforts, also noting that Malaysia had been placed on the Tier 2 watch list for nine times throughout the 2006-2018 period.
“The report said that Malaysia did not fully fulfill the minimum standards in the elimination of human trafficking,” he said.
The report had evaluated 187 countries including Malaysia over their prevention, prosecution and protection in relation to human trafficking.
https://www.malaymail.com/s/1647155/after-us-report-downgrade-muhyiddin-pledges-better-efforts-against-human-sm
Jack Ma
This Mohiden only busy looking for Jamal Yunos! A very incompetent minister!
2018-06-30 13:50