International border restrictions and the economic downturn experienced by many countries that have traditionally supplied foreign workers to Malaysia have allowed traffickers to capitalise on people’s desperation.
“When people need money, and coming to Malaysia is made more difficult, these criminals work as intermediaries to get them in the back door,” said Adrian Pereira, executive director of human rights group North South Initiative.
“As usual, there is also some element of corruption involved among those who man the borders, and that hasn’t changed during the pandemic.”
Pereira told FMT the government’s labour recalibration plan, implemented to provide undocumented migrant workers a path to legitimacy, had offered traffickers a new avenue to exploit those under their thumb.
“We have come to understand that some traffickers charge as much as RM10,000 to facilitate this legalisation of foreign workers.
“They essentially demand this payment to work as the middleman between the worker and the immigration department, with consequences if they aren’t paid,” he said.
Hishamuddin Hashim, secretary-general of the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation, said traffickers had increasingly used the internet as a way to attract victims, both for labour and sex trafficking, during the pandemic.
“There have been cases where a mother and her children will be offered a job after being lured online, and upon accepting a job and moving into the recipient country, the family is abandoned by the trafficker.
“Crime thrives in times of crisis, and traffickers adapt quickly to the ‘new normal’.
“They respond to the closure of bars, clubs and massage parlours, where exploitation can occur, by simply moving their illegal business to private premises or online.”
While this has opened up new loopholes for traffickers to exploit, Hishamuddin said, technological advances had also created new opportunities for enforcement agencies in their fight against the traffickers.
“The authorities should capitalise on, and employ technology like artificial intelligence to streamline processes and reduce the power and influence concentrated among the enforcement personnel.
“This would help to control and minimise any potential misuse of this power,” he said.