KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s elevation to Tier 2 in the US State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report does not accurately reflect the reality on the ground and should be regarded with caution, said a human rights activist.
Social justice movement North South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira expressed scepticism over the “improved” ranking, asserting it should not be taken as an indication of core issues affecting trafficking victims having been resolved.
He also cautioned that the report’s “dangerously misleading” description of conditions here could provide investors with a false depiction of Malaysia’s situation in regards to migrant workers.
“A lot of activists are actually shocked that we’re on Tier 2. It’s actually quite impossible (seeing as how) the situation on the ground is so bad. We don’t know how they could put us at Tier 2,” Pereira told Scoop.
“Any industry that wants to invest here should be careful before investing in or expanding their supply chain here, as they might not be getting the most accurate information (based on the report).
“With such a misleading rating, they (investors) need to know that a lot of responsibilities and remediations will fall on them (when it comes to) constructing their business plan, recruiting migrant workers, or delivering products as these all involve labour,” he added.
Noting that the report might send a “wrong message” to the public and politicians, Periera advocated for more strategic collaborations with non-governmental and community-based organisations as community leaders are consistently engaging with affected trafficking victims.
“Currently, there is very minimal involvement of these groups, and there is also a lack of resources to combat human trafficking.
“Bodies such as the United Nations’ Office on Drug and Crimes and Bank Negara Malaysia have also flagged the issue, but little is being done to rectify the situation,” he posited.
Questioning the findings of the TIP report, Pereira pointed to the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) 2024 global rights index. This puts Malaysia on a Rating 5 level – a category for nations providing no guarantee of workers’ rights.
The ITUC report, which was conducted around the same timeframe as the TIP study, said nations with the level five rating are “the worst countries in the world to work in”.
It also added that while legislation might spell out certain rights, workers have “effectively no access to these rights”.
Employees, it said, are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.
The TIP report’s Tier 2 ranking is for countries that have not fully met the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking but are making significant efforts to do so.
The report states Putrajaya has demonstrated overall increased efforts in 2023 compared with the previous reporting period.
Malaysia was on the Tier 2 Watchlist in 2023. Before that, it was at Tier 3 which is the lowest level in 2022 and 2021.
Meanwhile, Migrant Care country representative Alex Ong urged activists to practice ethical advocacy based on “do no harm” principles when engaging with migrant communities.
Calling for rights defenders to avoid pinning blame and playing up unsubstantiated allegations for media attention, Ong also commended the Labour Department’s swift response to addressing Bangladeshi migrant issues.
However, in a statement today, he also pointed out ongoing discrepancies in policy delivery systems.
This includes challenges with document and undocumented migrant databases, monitoring systems for domestic workers and abuses within outsourcing models. – June 25, 2024