MALAYSIA ANNOUNCES NEW ANTI-TIP MEASURES DURING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 001661 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KWMN PREF SMIG MY SUBJECT: MALAYSIA ANNOUNCES NEW ANTI-TIP MEASURES DURING VISIT BY A/S SAUERBREY ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration Ellen Sauerbrey used her August 24-26 mission in Kuala Lumpur to press Malaysia to take action on trafficking in persons (TIP) and she received new information concerning the GOM's current approach. A senior Internal Security Ministry official explained that the GOM recently established an interagency coordinating committee for TIP, headed by his ministry, and that the committee was weighing the recommendation for drafting a new anti-trafficking law, a step A/S Sauerbrey strongly encouraged. The GOM would also establish a special wing in a immigration detention facility that would house TIP victims. Subsequently, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development (WFCD) announced on August 28 their intention to work with the Attorney General's chambers to draft a law to address "people smuggling" activities in Malaysia. The ministers also announced that the Home Affairs ministry would establish a "protection center for people smuggling victims" and that the WFCD ministry would manage the facility. In A/S Sauerbrey's other TIP-related meetings, Indonesia's ambassador to Malaysia offered a glimpse inside the expanded shelter located on his embassy's compound, and local NGO Tenaganita informed A/S Sauerbrey that its USG-funded TIP shelter has become fully functional. Septel reports A/S Sauerbrey's engagement on refugee issues. End Summary. Internal Security Takes on Coordinating Role -------------- ¶2. (SBU) A/S Sauerbrey raised the need for Malaysia to take action on trafficking in persons in meetings with senior officials in the Internal Security and Foreign Affairs ministries. Muhammad Hatta bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Security (MIS),told A/S Sauerbrey during their August 24 meeting that overall responsibility for the GOM's anti-TIP efforts had been transferred to his ministry from the Ministry of Home Affairs. He stated that the GOM made the transfer because Home Affairs viewed the issue only from the perspective of immigration documentation, while MIS could better deal with trafficking as a national security and law enforcement matter, pointing out that the police fall under MIS's supervision. Hatta said he recently chaired the inaugural ;meeting of a new interagency committee that will coordinate the GOM's anti-TIP efforts. The interagency committee consists of representatives from the ministries of Internal Security, Home Affairs, Health and WFCD; it will coordinate its efforts with the Attorney General's office. Pressing for an Anti-TIP Law -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The new committee had met once within the past month, Hatta reported, and agreed to further study whether the GOM should draft a new anti-TIP law or amend existing legislation. Comments from officials in the room signaled support for a new law, but the matter remained before the committee. A/S Sauerbrey strongly backed a comprehensive anti-TIP law and described how enactment of such legislation in the U.S. greatly facilitated our prosecution of traffickers, prevention of trafficking activities and protection of victims. Hatta said he would solicit and welcome US expertise and support in drafting Malaysia's anti-TIP law, should the GOM decide to pursue this course. Rescuing and Protecting Victims -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Hatta told A/S Sauerbrey that Malaysian police had "rescued" 352 foreign women from vice activities in the period 2004 through the present, largely using tip-offs from local embassies here, particularly those of Indonesia and Thailand. If foreign embassies report to the police, police will take action, he asserted. With regard to GOM handling of these women, he said, "We're trying to give better treatment to perceived victims." Hatta mentioned that the GOM had decided to establish a separate area to house women and child TIP victims within an illegal migrant detention facility in Terengganu state in order to provide better treatment. (Note: On August 29, the Terengganu detention center's commandant stated that no such separate area for TIP victims had yet been established in his facility. End Note.) A/S Sauerbrey emphasized the need to treat and assist victims as victims rather than as criminals or illegal migrants. Changing Pattern of Prostitution -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Hatta and several police officials described how vice syndicates have changed their operations during the past KUALA LUMP 00001661 002 OF 002 two years. He said the number of brothels has declined due to police crackdowns that netted large numbers of prostitutes along with brothel owners/operators. He said the vice syndicates now prefer housing women separately from where they engage in vice activities. They remain on call, and are transported individually to the customer's location. This physical separation of housing facilities from the locations where vice activities are performed has hampered anti-vice law enforcement efforts in Malaysia, according to Hatta. Local NGO Tenaganita's President, Irene Fernandez, confirmed this development and told A/S Sauerbrey that it made efforts to locate and rescue TIP victims more difficult. Ministers Announce Plans for New Law, Protecting Victims -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) In a subsequent development, the Ministers of Home Affairs and WFCD announced two new TIP-related initiatives at a joint press conference that followed their meeting on August 28. They said they would hold discussions with the Attorney General's chambers to consider drafting a new law to "curb human smuggling." The Minister of WFCD, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, also announced that the Minister of Home Affairs, Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, had agreed during their meeting "to establish a protection center" for victims of trafficking that will be managed by the WFCD ministry. She said she also requested that Radzi separate victims of human smuggling from other detainees in police cells and illegal migrant detention facilities. Meetings with Indonesian Ambassador and NGO Tenaganita -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia, Rusdihardjo, told A/S Sauerbrey during their August 25 meeting that his embassy had expanded its shelter for female Indonesian victims of trafficking and labor abuse. The shelter is located on the embassy compound and has a capacity of up to 160 women. He allowed us a glimpse inside the facility, which contains 7 rooms filled with bunk beds. It housed approximately 150 women and girls during our visit, including a 13 year-old girl whom Rusdihardjo claimed had been trafficked into prostitution. He said most of the women and girls in the shelter would remain there an average of 2-4 weeks, until the Indonesian embassy could obtain exit documentation from the GOM. ¶8. (SBU) During A/S Sauerbrey's August 25 meeting with Tenaganita's Fernandez, the NGO leader stated that the USG-funded TIP shelter was now fully operational and sheltered 18 women, most of whom were Vietnamese. She said Tenaganita's cooperation with police, immigration and WFCD Ministry officials remained excellent. ¶9. (SBU) Comment: A/S Sauerbrey's meetings with the Internal Security and Foreign Affairs ministries, and with the Indonesian embassy and Tenaganita, underscored strong U.S. support for anti-TIP action by the GOM. The TIP developments we learned of during and following A/S Sauerbrey's mission reflect greater senior-level GOM attention to trafficking crimes. Cabinet officials speaking about a possible anti-trafficking law and also planning some measures intended to protect victims represent new openings for our engagement. SHEAR