Malaysian officials linked to human trafficking
The foreign relations committee of US Senate is investigating allegations that Malaysian officials are extorting money from foreign refugees. Those unable to pay are sold to human traffickers.
“US Senate foreign relations committee staff are reviewing reports of extortion and human trafficking from Burmese and other migrants in Malaysia, allegedly at the hands of Malaysia government officials,” a committee staff member told AFP. Myanmar’s previous name was Burma.
“The allegations include assertions that Burmese and other migrants — whether or not they have UNHCR documentation — are taken from Malaysian government detention facilities and transported to the Thailand-Malaysia border,” the official said.
At the border, they alleged, “money is demanded from them, or they are turned over to human traffickers in southern Thailand.”
A committee staff member said that thousands of refugees from Burma may have been threatened with being sold into slavery.
In related news, a Burmese labour activist says he was kidnapped and beaten in Malaysia for speaking out against human trafficking.
Ye Min Tun, who served seven years in jail in Burma for opposing the government before fleeing to Malaysia a decade ago, said two colleagues escaped as several men seized, bound, and gagged him and drove to an unidentifiable area with huts and tents.
He was then repeatedly beaten, he said.
After colleagues paid a ransom of about US$1100, he was released, bound and gagged, near his office in Kuala Lumpur.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, over 30,000 Burmese refugees live in Malaysian immigration camps at the mercy of human traffickers who operate “with the full knowledge of Malaysian and Thai immigration officials”.
[...] MALAYSIAN officials linked to human trafficking …. [...]