SUBANG, 19 Dec: The Selangor State Anti-Human Trafficking Council (MAPMAS) reported that there have been 815 victims of human trafficking recorded in Selangor since 2011 until December 2012.

The Deputy Chairman of the MAPMAS Action Committee, Rozaini Mohd Rosli, said that the human trafficking cases that occurred did not only involve foreigners, but also locals who were also victims.

She said that the perception that human trafficking only involves foreigners is inaccurate and should be corrected.

“Some of the more common cases involving labour includes locals and mostly from security companies.

“Recently, there was a case where 64 Malaysian workers were not paid their wages for over a year. They were conscripted to work overtime without pay.

“The best we can do is to look at the law and ask those with authority to facilitate the people so that there is not cumbersome bureaucracy. They take two years to go back and fourth to the Labour Court to file their cases in order to seek redress,” she said.

She was speaking at the Selangor Anti-Human Trafficking Advocacy Programme at the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) level today.

In Malaysia, human trafficking is placed under the Anti-Human Trafficking and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 and if charged, can carry a jail term of 20 years and fined RM1 million.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the MAPMAS Standing Committee, Dr Irene Fernandez, said that preparation and knowledge on human trafficking should be given starting from school because this activity is starting to at the school level.

She said that last year, there was a case where a girl was kidnapped and placed in a container to be traded, however she managed to escape.

“Some parents tell us that there is a deployment process from trafficking syndicates that pays male students to attract beautiful girls. They are then taken to a designated place and kidnapped,” she said.

For the President of MPSJ, Datuk Asmawi Kasbi, MPSJ will help in efforts to provide publicity and awareness information to the public regarding the matter.

For anyone who has information on trafficking cases, they can contact the Selangor State Hotline at 03-5519 0600.