TIP: FIRST ARREST OF IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000600

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR EAP/MTS, INL/G-TIP, BANGKOK PLEASE PASS TO SECRETARY
AND PDAS MARCIEL IN PHUKET

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KTIP PHUM PREF PREL MY
SUBJECT: TIP: FIRST ARREST OF IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS

REF: KL 596 - INCREASED GOM RESPONSIVENESS ON TIP

Summary and Press Guidance
--------------


1. (SBU) Police have announced the arrest of five immigration
officials under Malaysia,s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act
for alleged involvement in a TIP syndicate. As the first GOM
acknowledgement of official involvement in TIP, this is a
significant step forward in Malaysia's newfound activism in
combating trafficking. End Summary.


2. (U) Suggested Press Guidance:

Q: Any comment on the report that Malaysian authorities have
arrested immigration officials suspected of involvement in
trafficking of Burmese refugees? Is this the result of U.S.
pressure and Tier 3 ranking in the U.S. Trafficking in
Persons Report?

A: --- I welcome this news of Malaysia,s arrest of
immigration officers suspected of involvement in trafficking.
We are making excellent progress together in the short time
since Prime Minister Najib took office on April 2.

--- The Malaysians have made it very clear that they wish to
partner with the U.S. and others in the region and globally
to resolve trafficking issues. I commend my colleague,
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah, for his forthright support
of an activist approach to this issue at the Non Aligned
Movement summit in Egypt.

--Our Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking minority
member Senator Richard Lugar has been instrumental in
bringing to light allegations of abuse of Burmese refugees in
Malaysia. We owe Senator Lugar and his staff a debt of
gratitude, along with dedicated NGOs and parliamentarians who
have been working hard to shed light on traffickers,
enslavement of innocent victims.


3. (SBU) At a July 20 press conference, Police Criminal
Investigation Department (CID) Director Mohd Bakri Zinin
announced the arrest of five Malaysian Immigration Department
officials and four others for alleged involvement in a
trafficking in persons syndicate. Our NGO contacts, who have
been in close touch with the police regarding this case, have
confirmed that these arrests have taken place. As indicated
in reftel, this case was closely supervised by the Attorney
General,s Chambers and Head Prosecutor Tun Majid, apparently
with little or no coordination with the Ministry of Home
Affairs which oversees Immigration. Immigration Department
Director General Abdul Rahman Othman told the press on July
20 that he was unaware of the arrests.


4. (SBU) Bakri said the immigration officials and four
others (drivers who ferried the immigrants around the
country) were believed to have received payments from a
syndicate for the 'sale' of a group of people, comprising
mostly Burmese Rohingya migrants, as forced labor in various
sectors including the fisheries industry. The CID Director
pointed out that the officers acted as middlemen and
protectors for the human-trafficking syndicate which
recruited the migrants.


5. (SBU) Bakri's description of the modus operandi of the
syndicate was similar to that described in the Senate report.
He stated that the senior Immigration officers would wait
at several northern and southern border landing points to
bring in the Rohingya migrants, who were charged between
US$85 (RM300) and US$170 (RM600) each. The drivers used small
deserted roads to transport them to various parts of the
country for work. If they were unable to pay, they would be
sold by the syndicate to, among others, owners of fishing
industries in Thailand, where they would have to work until
their debts were paid off.


6. (SBU) Bakri stated that the immigration officers received
payment into their accounts locally and abroad. On some
occasions, middlemen helped to broker the deals. The CID
Director also stated that the police are investigating how
many people have been trafficked and whether the immigration
officers were also involved in forging documents and other
illegal activities. He claimed that nine suspects were
believed to have worked closely with the syndicate which had
been active since last year, adding that the police were in
the midst of tracking down syndicate members and their
accomplices. The suspects have been remanded until July 24,
and would be investigated under Section 13 of the
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007 which carries an

KUALA LUMP 00000600 002 OF 002


imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years and a
fine, if convicted.


7. (SBU) This is the first official GOM acknowledgement of
the involvement of immigration officials in a human
trafficking syndicate since the release of a U.S. Senate
Foreign Relation Committee report on April 3, which detailed
such allegations. According to Bakri, police had been
monitoring the activities of the suspects since March (a
month before the Senate report).
KEITH