6月初,美国国务院发表《2007年人口贩卖报告》,马来西亚列入人口贩卖的黑名单(第三级)。报告指马来西亚政府惩治人蛇集团力度不足、无法为受害者提供合适的收容所及社会服务、无法保护外劳免受强制性工作,甚至援引《紧急状态法令》捉获人口贩子,却没有将他们绳之于法
这样的报告书一发布,引起了政府高官的反弹,指责报告书旨在抹黑马来西亚,甚至还说抹黑回教国家。而人权委员会的西华认为这报告不甚公平,因为他们是很片面,不公平的,因为以往这样的报告都会采纳人权委员会的意见,而此报告是没有的,甚至辩护可能该报告将非法外劳也涵盖在内。
可是现实的状况到底如何?即使《反贩卖人口法案》已经通过2个月,但是至今仍然没有听到政府有什么后续的工作,在惩罚贩卖人口的人士的方面仍然没有任何进展。
通过了此法令,那么表示政府对于此课题的重视,可是到今天仍然没有听到政府提出有关于政府成立《贩卖人口》受害者庇护所的消息。至今,为贩卖人口受害者提供庇护所的只有妇女力量一间,而此组织的资金来源并不来自政府。虽然妇女援助中心亦有为这样的受害者提供庇护,但是仍然不足够。
此外,2006年8月推行的外包政策(Out Sourcing),到今天竟然变相的成为《贩卖人口》的方法,严重的影响了外劳的基本权利。有很多孟加拉的劳工在这样的方式被引进来马来西亚之后,被他们来马期间遭代理殴打和囚禁、没有工作与和薪水,以及缺乏足够食物与医疗护理的种种遭遇。而原本政策的目的是要减低侵犯人权的事,这类聘请劳工的方式竟然成为变相的《贩卖人口》。当妇女力量向国内事务部反映的时候,该部亦表示他们没有办法有效的对付涉及的外包公司负责人(注二)。
首相署部长纳兹里(Nazri Aziz)透露,法案通过后,马来西亚就符合了联合国防止跨国组织性犯罪公约(United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime)中,关于打击及防止贩卖人口的部分标准。
有人说,马来西亚会列入第3级是因为法案没有尽早通过。但是通过法案是一回事,而如何有效的执行法案的内容又是另一回事了。
如果马来西亚没有Political Will来解决贩卖人口的问题;如果在执行的时候没有办法有效的克服不同的法案之下的矛盾,我们也只是通过了一个《反贩卖人口法案》如此而已。
注
(一) Justice Denial http://tenaganita.disagrees.net/info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=51
(二)Outsourcing of migrant labor is showing clear signs of trafficking in persons for labor exploitation
Two months ago,
Malaysia was blacklisted by the United States for the first time for its failure to take concrete action against human trafficking.
Malaysia joined other offenders - among them, Burma, North Korea and Sudan - in the US State Department's annual ‘Trafficking in Persons Report’.
In all, 16 countries were given the so-called ‘Tier 3' status in the 236-page survey of global efforts to combat human trafficking, which makes these errant nations eligible for US economic sanctions. As if to underscore Malaysia’s abysmal record in human trafficking, top US television station NBC aired on Wednesday
a gripping tale about an American who went to Penang to rescue his Filipino niece from the clutches of her captors.
The 30-minute ‘Dateline’ programme detailed the dark web of collusion between the Malaysian law enforcers - the police and immigration officers - and the human traffickers. “The State Department says that human trafficking and the sex trade it fuels are rampant here. Yet in all of 2006, not a single trafficker was prosecuted,” said Dateline correspondent Chris Hansen.
They helped themselves to the girls One victim, Anna, told Dateline that she went to Malaysian immigration authorities for help, a top official there advised her to “go back to work” and called her traffickers.
“I want them to help me - to rescue me - so I can go back Philippines,” she said. According to Anna, some of the Malaysian police and immigration officials were clients of the clubs where she worked and helped themselves to the girls.
Dateline also revealed that Malaysian officials were notorious for turning a blind eye to trafficking. “So much so that when victims like Anna show up looking for help, they are often brought up on immigration charges,” it said.
Anna, who sold her virginity for RM280 (US$80) on her first night in Malaysia, was eventually rescued by the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur
Dateline also told the grim tale of another Filipino girl, Lannie Ejercito, 22, (right) who was rescued by her American uncle, ‘Troop’ Edmonds. Edmonds and his Filipino wife Ravina - Lannie’s aunt - were at home in Oregon when they received a distressing phone call from Lannie to rescue her. Edmonds (left), with the help of a retired Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) friend, Jerry Howe, with the Dateline crew in tow, flew first to Philippines and then to Penang in search of Lannie.
Hot on the traffickers’ trail They discovered that Lannie and 15 other Filipinos were sent to Penang as singers. And when they can’t sing, they were forced into prostitution. With the help of Malaysian police, which they said were not very helpful, they raided a flat near Universiti Sains Malaysia. But no one was there. However, sensing that the two elderly 60-something Americans were hot on their trail, the traffickers decided to take Lannie to the police station to sign a statement saying that she was not being held against her will.
The two men rushed to the police station on hearing that Lannie was there. “Lannie (photo, right) was brought to the police station by Kenny Kang (photo, left), one of the people who has been holding her captive,” said Dateline. “In fact, she's been saying all is well - she's fine.”
But the Americans were astonished to find the police interviewing Lannie with Kang sitting next to her.
Howe (right), who's conducted hundreds of interviews during his 26 years in the FBI, was shocked that the lead detective failed to separate the victim from the victimiser, said Dateline. “And when I suggested that, it's like the light bulb went off in his head. ‘Oh, yeah, that's a good idea.’ And they'll move - they moved him away from her so she could speak.
But she was still terrified,” said Howe. Kang was finally sent to an adjoining room. Hansen asked Howe whether it appeared to him that Kang had a “pre-existing relationship with some of the police officers” at the station. Howe: Boy, did I ... I got that impression. Hansen: And what gave you that impression? Howe: Well, he's laughing. He's making phone calls. He's joking with the police officer that he's with.
And we can see all this through the glass in the offices there. With Kang in another room, Lannie eventually revealed that she wanted out. Fear that everyone would end up in jail
However, Kang refused to hand over Lannie’s passport. An argument over the passport erupted at the police station. Edmonds accused Kang of paying off the police, and at one point was worried that he and Howe would end up in jail.
“And just when it seemed things couldn't get any stranger, in walks a man who describes himself as Kenny Kang's business partner, a gynecologist named Ng Kok Kwang (left). The doctor says he has a side business supplying singers to work at various hotels and he insists he's not engaged in human trafficking,” said Dateline.
Ng demanded that Edmond reimburse him for the money he had spent transporting, housing and for the “singing lessons” which Lannie did take - altogether RM200,000. “That translates to nearly US$60,000 - a sum so high it would take the average Filipino at least 20 years to pay it off,” said Dateline. Eventually, Ng let Lannie go.
A few months later, Philippine officials staged a dramatic late-night operation and freed the 15 others (left) whom Ng and Kang kept locked up with Lannie. For Malaysia to be removed from the US’ blacklist, the “government needs to demonstrate stronger political will to tackle
Malaysia's significant forced labour and sex trafficking problems,” said the US State Department.
In April, in the bid to improve Malaysia’s record on human trafficking, the government approved a milestone
anti-trafficking bill which introduces a 20-year jail sentence for offenders.
But it is not immediately clear whether this will help burnish the country’s image, especially with existing problems with enforcement, and corruption in the police force as well as immigration.
我感到羞耻,很羞耻
曾经有朋友告诉我,在马来西亚要打击贩卖人口的作业,不是很容易的事,里面涉及了很多“高层”的人事环环相扣。南部最大的供应中心,其中的背后老板就是退休的高级警官
在上述的报导中,可以看出马来西亚的警方在进行调查的时候的不专业。我更害怕的是在更多的执法人员因为涉及利益、可以获得利益,就将这些事情草草了事。毕竟,在马来西亚只要你没有证件,你几乎就可以直接的进入我们的扣留营了。他们才不会理会你们的原因,可能他们也不知道如何来理解你。