Khalid (front right) talking to police officers at ATIPSOM seminar at the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) College. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR: Nine illegals from Myanmar and Bangladesh who are suspected to be involved in human trafficking cases were detained in Kedah on Monday.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the nine detained comprised seven Myanmar nationals and two Bangladeshis.
“They were detained under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007,” he told reporters after closing an ATIPSOM seminar at the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) College in Cheras here, yesterday.
Khalif declined to comment further on the arrests of the illegals. The detention brought the total number of people arrested for being involved in human trafficking activities to 19 since May 10, including a local man and two Bangladeshi nationals who were charged on June 25.
Meanwhile, he said PDRM encountered difficulties to detect the masterminds of human trafficking activities because most were not in the country. “It’s a challenge for us to bring them back to here for charges,” he said. According to Khalid, PDRM as the premier law enforcement agency in the country, urged its personnel to view the issue seriously.
“We are also aware of the 2014 Trafficking in People Report of the United States Department of State that Malaysia has dropped to Tier 3 on its failure to adhere fully to the stipulated minimum standard to eradicate human trafficking,” he said.
Following this, Malaysia must fulfil the stipulated standard on measures that had to be taken to combat the issue. “It is our duty to eradicate this crime because it is cruel and can be regarded as modern slavery. We will work at moving towards a better tier in the report,” he said.
In a related development, Khalid said the seminar was aimed at outlining measures which PDRM must take to curb human traffickings and the smuggling of migrants which were getting more rampant.
“Via this seminar, we look back at what we have done and what we need to do to tackle the issue. “In addition, the seminar is also aimed at providing an understanding to all levels of leadership on how to face the threat,” he said. — Bernama