Human Trafficking Law in Malaysia as Reflected in Policies and Practices

Human Trafficking is a global phenomenon which represents an obdurate and serious problem in Malaysia, which is a destination, source and transit country for forced labour and sexual exploitation. Human trafficking is difficult to eradicate as were former slavery practices, since it manifests itself in complicated and multi-layered forms, often committed by the clandestine and sophisticated groups of perpetrators. Realising its menace, the international community has taken constructive moves to address the problem by agreeing on a comprehensive international treaty in the form of the Trafficking Protocol 2000 reflecting the 3P paradigm – to prevent, prosecute and protect. The main focus of this research is to critically analyse the Malaysian policy and the legal provision responding to human trafficking in the light of international law. It investigates the human trafficking problems, and the relevant policy, strategy as well as laws in addressing human trafficking in Malaysia based on the premise that the anti-human trafficking strategy and laws should be concurrent with the international treaty. It identifies shortcomings in the implementation in terms of fairness and effectiveness. Such shortfalls are due to various reasons including the lack of empathy, knowledge, training and resources. The problem is aggravated by the practices of corruption, hence creating obstacles in the policy and legal implementation process. While this research aims to review the policy and laws in Malaysia, it also makes some reference to the policy and laws governing human trafficking in England and Wales to identify progressive ideas for Malaysia’s adoption. This research also argues that the values of the effectiveness and fairness within the implementation of the policy and laws in Malaysia must be adhered to so as to enable the human trafficking problems to be addressed appropriately in the long run.