Read more at The Star in Malaysia…

Tricked by sex syndicates
By SHAHANAAZ HABIB and RASHVINJEET S. BEDI

Reports of young foreigners being lured by syndicates that traffic them into prostitution are a matter of great concern, and the authorities are set on stemming the tide with the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

Soon, when you board a flight to Malaysia from China, Nepal, India, Indonesia, Thailand or other South-East Asian countries, don’t be surprised if you are handed a multi-lingual pamphlet asking “Are you being trafficked?”

The pamphlet in 10 languages has a brief checklist meant for those coming into Malaysia for work. It asks if they have an official letter offering the job, if they know the address where they are going to work and stay, the nature of the job offered and whether the agent wanted them to be secretive about their new job.

It also asks if they have detailed information on the recruiting agency that hired them, if they have advice from their respective embassies before coming, and if they know where to get assistance in the country they are going to (i.e Malaysia).

An emergency hotline number is included in the pamphlet, which is part of the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry’s efforts to get those heading here for work to think and to be better prepared in case of a worst-case scenario.

“We hope it will also be distributed at the immigration and other entry points to the country,” says the Department of Women’s Development director-general Datuk Dr Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur.

She says a number of people from these countries come over because they have been promised jobs only to find themselves in the hands of syndicates that traffick them into prostitution and other gains.

Unesco estimates that there are 250,000 prostitutes or (to use the politically correct term) sex workers in Malaysia.