Monday, July 11, 2011

Malaysia hits back at US over trafficking watchlist

By Melissa Goh

KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia has hit back at the United States, after its latest report on human trafficking continued to put the country on its watchlist.

The US removed neighbouring Singapore, the Philippines and Laos from the watchlist, and put them at Tier 2, which means the countries do not fully meet its standards on human trafficking but are making efforts to do so.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he is confident Malaysia will meet US standards once its anti-human trafficking measures are fully implemented.

Some of its new measures include a biometric system to fingerprint foreigners at all checkpoints.

It has also taken action against immigration officers found to be involved in human smuggling, and arrested heads of human trafficking syndicates.

And in a bid to break the business model of human smugglers, Malaysia said it fully supports Australia's proposed refugee swap deal.

It will also roll out an amnesty and legalisation programme to register hundreds of thousands of illegal migrant workers currently on its shores, starting July 11.

- CNA /ls

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