fuyumi

CNA
quote:

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Thursday promised severe punishment for human traffickers after the country's inclusion on a US blacklist of countries engaged in smuggling people.

Malaysia has been placed on Washington's "Tier 3" list of worst offenders, joining Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Sudan, but Abdullah said Malaysia was already working to stamp out the practice.

"We are against human trafficking. Certainly, human trafficking is a crime and that has to be stopped," Abdullah told reporters.

A landmark anti-trafficking bill is currently working its way through parliament, the prime minister said. The legislation would introduce a 20-year jail sentence for offenders as well as stiff fines.

The new bill would grant greater powers to the police, immigration and other authorities to pursue, prosecute and convict human traffickers, while better protecting victims.

"The penalty, or the punishment will be severe. We do whatever we can, but because it is not enough ... that is why we decided that the bill has become necessary," he said.

Malaysia, a key US trading partner, was added Tuesday to the blacklist included in the State Department's annual "Trafficking in Persons Report."

It failed to show "satisfactory progress" in areas such as punishing acts of trafficking, providing adequate shelters and social services to victims, and protecting migrant workers from involuntary servitude, the report said.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar Wednesday acknowledged that under existing law in Malaysia, there is no distinction made between trafficked persons and illegal immigrants.

However, he criticised Malaysia's inclusion on the list and refuted claims it was not doing enough to tackle the problem.

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