Andy Hall, who was commenting on Malaysia’s downgrade to the lowest tier of the US State Department’s annual human trafficking report, said he had worked with many countries globally on migrant workers’ rights.
“I consider Malaysia to be the worst in its horrendous treatment of migrant workers and its inability to genuinely tackle systemic forced labour and human trafficking within its borders,” he told FMT.
Hall said corruption and impunity were “endemic” with little to no rule of law, coupled with the absence of a long-term migration policy that could effectively address issues of forced labour.
He said the private sector should also play its part in addressing and remediating modern slavery and forced labour in its own operations, adding that this required the support of buyers, suppliers, investors and the international community.
“All these actors should be deemed complicit in this ongoing crisis situation regarding modern slavery and forced labour that is systemic in Malaysia.
“At the same time, the government is a key actor that should take the lead to combat modern slavery and forced labour within its borders.
“Putrajaya’s continued and systemic failure to develop and enforce a holistic migrant worker policy that balances national, economic and human security concerns continues to heighten and contribute to risks of forced labour and modern slavery,” he said.
Hall said corruption and impunity had become entrenched when it came to forced labour and abuses against migrant workers, from their recruitment, registration, and regularisation and to their detention and deportation.
He called for concerted action from Putrajaya to come up with a transparent domestic migrant worker policy, through which the private sector could combat systemic forced labour and modern slavery in its operations.
Malaysia, which was placed on the Tier 2 watchlist in last year’s report, has been downgraded to Tier 3 as the US said it did not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.
The report said Malaysia failed to improve, even considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity.
“Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took some steps to address trafficking, such as prosecuting and convicting, among others.
“However, the government continued to conflate human trafficking and migrant smuggling crimes and did not adequately address or criminally pursue credible allegations from multiple sources alleging labour trafficking,” it said.