HUMAN trafficking is a heinous crime. The recent discovery of mass graves on the Thai side of the Malaysia-Thailand border is testimony to its existence and the fact that it is too close to home for comfort. In fact, despite the resulting spate of arrests by Thai authorities, involving only its nationals, few doubt that Malaysians are implicated in the cross-border crime as well. A raid by Malaysian police in Kedah in March, for instance, uncovered a possible human trafficking syndicate. That there is no involvement by Malaysians in the transborder smuggling of humans moving in both directions is not plausible. Involving victims mainly from Myanmar and Bangladesh, the survivors of these border death camps tell of only grim tales of humanity so base, that they deserve no recognition as humans. Survivors are always emaciated.
Just before the Kedah incident, the deputy inspector-general of police had announced the setting up of a special task force to combat human trafficking, and drugs and firearms smuggling at the Malaysia-Thai border. Admitting to the porous nature of the border, which lends itself to two-way smuggling, he had said police research found that the trafficking of Thai, Myanmar and Bangladesh nationals went side by side with the “smuggling of drugs, firearms and other items”. The aim of the task force is to boost border patrol and police competency. The merciless fabric of human trafficking, especially, makes more efficient policing along borders and elsewhere in the country important to stop the crime and redeem the country’s dignity, now that the world thinks Malaysia is not doing enough to bust syndicates that prey on vulnerable groups. This is clearly modern-day slavery, for the most part driven by poverty and, as with the Rohingyas of Myanmar, ethnic strife and cruel persecution. A story published in March told of slavery in the seafood industry — Myanmar men held against their will on the remote Indonesian island of Benjina and forced to go to sea. This is the seafood industry. Of course, slavery in the sex trade is a familiar tale. Young girls are abducted and sold into sex slavery. Stories of near misses abound in this country alone.
But as the Thai incident showed, some powerful people — public servants — were part of the criminal ring. Would it be the same on this side of the border? The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) complains that its hands are tied. It wants more teeth to bite hard, or the collusion between public employees and criminals will not be easily smashed. In the current climate, there is a sense that this body, tasked as it is to keep the public sector clean, needs the help of legislators. The law that governs MACC’s activity must be amended to strengthen the commission, for without it, abuses are slow to surface, though some have in recent months. There is, too, a clear sense that MACC is merely scratching the surface.