EAP-MTS OFFICE DIRECTOR YUN'S MEETINGS WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000830

SIPDIS

FOR EAP/MTS AND INR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM MY
SUBJECT: EAP-MTS OFFICE DIRECTOR YUN'S MEETINGS WITH
MALAYSIAN OFFICIALS

Classified By: Political Counselor Brian D. McFeeters for reasons 1.4 b
and d.


1. (C) SUMMARY: In October 1 meetings with visiting EAP/MTS
Director Yun, Malaysian Foreign and Home Affairs officials
stressed their desires for improved U.S.-Malaysian relations
on bilateral and regional issues. Malaysian MFA officials
assessed that the highest levels of GOM wanted better ties
with the U.S., although lower levels had not quite gotten the
message. They drew attention to security challenges in
southern Thailand and Mindanao, and described tensions
between Indonesia and Malaysia as "overblown." Senior
officials at the Home Ministry focused on their ongoing
efforts to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP),
acknowledging frankly that the GOM still has a way to go,
especially in coming to terms with labor trafficking. They
emphasized that the TIP problem must be addressed within the
context of immigration control and that cooperation from
neighboring countries was essential. End Summary.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
--------------


2. (C) In an October 1 meeting with visiting EAP/MTS office
director Joe Yun, Adnan Othman, Under Secretary for Southeast
Asia in the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, generally
praised the U.S.-Malaysia relationship, noting specifically
our close MIL-MIL ties and intel-sharing, but added that "it
(the relationship) can be more than it is". Othman, whose
brief covers Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore and
Brunei, said that while it was clear that the highest levels
of the GOM wanted U.S.-Malaysian relations to be upgraded
substantially, difficulties existed in changing the mindset
of his colleagues, as many were "still living in a cold war
mentality."


3. (C) Othman said that regionally, southern Thailand is
Malaysia's biggest concern, as the Malaysia-Thai border is
porous and difficult to control. The security problems
between Bangkok and southern Thai insurgents have not
improved since 2004. Particularly intractable was that the
Thai Army and Thai Police are fighting a turf battle over
resolution of the insurgency. U/S Othman said that his
government's position is that "Malaysia must engage" in
southern Thailand, and expressed concerns that if KL did not,
some of the religious tension could cross into Malaysia.


4. (C) Shifting to the Philippines, U/S Othman said that
Malaysia, as facilitator for the peace process in Mindanao,
wanted the GOP and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
to talk to each other, but progress has been very slow.
MILF, he explained, had strong backing from the local
populace; Manila must acknowledge this support and give
Mindanao complete local autonomy. Othman believed that the
deployment of U.S. Special Forces was helping the situation,
as their presence stops the Filipino military from getting
out of control.


5. (C) U/S Othman assessed that relations with Indonesia were
generally good, and that recent tensions over the Ambalat
islands played out in the media were overblown. Regarding
other territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Othman
said that Malaysia felt content to let the status quo stand,
as it prevented anyone, especially China, from gaining
significant advantage over the others; any attempt to shift
the balance was "not worth the trouble". Othman said that
the best way to resolve the border disputes in the South
China sea and Ambalat islands is to go through the
International Court of Justice.

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
--------------


6. (SBU) Senior Deputy Secretary General of the Home Ministry
Raja Azhar discussed Malaysia's recent anti-trafficking
efforts. He explained that the GOM had expended significant
efforts on combating sex trafficking but acknowledged a need
to improve in the fight against labor trafficking. He noted
that in order to effectively combat TIP, Malaysia needed
coordination and cooperation with its neighbors. Malaysia,s
problems with undocumented workers were caused by economic
and political instability in neighboring countries.


7. (SBU) Raja Azahar identified labor outsourcing companies
as a major contributor to the TIP problem in Malaysia. He
noted that there are approximately 277 such companies sending
workers to Malaysia, from countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal
and Vietnam, and estimated that as many as two-thirds of them

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were not legitimate. A major problem in enforcement is that
the majority of the suspected fraudulent companies are not
based in Malaysia but are based in neighboring countries. For
a sizable fee, these companies bring migrants to Malaysia but
do not match them up with jobs upon arrival. This further
contributes to the numbers of individuals in Malaysia
vulnerable to trafficking. Raja Azahar explained that the
GOM is currently investigating these labor outsource
companies and hopes to close a majority of the obviously
fraudulent companies by the end of the first quarter of 2010.
However, he did add that he does not for foresee completing
the entire investigation until the end of 2010 noting that
such a long time frame is necessary to collect evidence to
properly distinguish the legitimate companies from the
fraudulent ones. The goal is to cancel the licenses of the
fraudulent operations and significantly reduce the number of
illegitimate labor outsource companies sending workers to
Malaysia.


8. (SBU) Raja Azahar also noted that the GOM is renovating an
old immigration detention facility at KL International
Airport to be a shelter for up to 600 male victims of TIP.
He acknowledged that with the estimated 1 million illegal
migrants in Malaysia, such a facility was insufficient to
address the problem.
KEITH