The Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, had some strong words against human trafficking during the recent launch of the National Anti-Trafficking in Persons Action Plan for 2016- 2020. He says that Malaysia is committed to preventing the exploitation of humans, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, religion and gender. Malaysia will not allow any individual , be it man, woman or child to be used as a commodity and be exploited for profit.

On the same day (Aug 15, 2016) the Cambodia Daily carried the shocking story of abuse, torture and murder (‘death’ is simply a euphemism for the deliberate killing of a fellow human being) of migrant workers - many of whom are victims of human trafficking - in a Malaysian immigration detention camp in Juru.

Two Cambodian domestic workers who had been repatriated after spending some time in the detention centre reported that they had allegedly witnessed two Cambodians and a Vietnamese girl who were in the same block, die at the prison after they were repeatedly hit, kicked and punched in the face and chest. They reported that many of the detainees were allegedly repeatedly and badly tortured.

One of the domestic workers also reported that she had allegedly seen four more women die at a local hospital; she was at the hospital on the instructions of the depot staff who had asked her to act as a translator for other detainees who had been sent to the hospital for treatment.

These are extremely serious allegations, which make a mockery of our avowed commitment to wipe out human trafficking. We as a nation should not allow these henious crimes within our government institutions to continue undetected and unreported with impunity.

The deputy prime minister should immediately initiate an open and transparent inquiry into these allegations and make public its findings. The inquiry would carry more credibility if the investigation team included the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and NGOs that have in-depth knowledge on the subject, based on their direct work with survivors of human trafficking.

Irrespective of where we aspire to stand in the US State Department’s Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report, the Malaysian government and the people should not tolerate and feign ignorance of the henious acts of inhumanity that are reportedly being perpetrated in our fair land.

JOSEPH PAUL MALIAMAUV works with a NGO that promotes and protects the rights and dignity of all persons.