In the midst of slavery

CHAM, 12, is from Cambodia. "If you promise to give me a place to stay, food to eat and opportunity to go to school, then I would gladly return home.

"I do not want to live in hardship, life here is difficult but it is much worse back in my homeland," he said during an operation by the authorities to weed out illegal immigrants in Sabah.

Cham was one of thousands of foreign children smuggled into Malaysia, either to work or seek temporary refuge before being shipped to other countries.

Cham's case was nothing new. Malaysia, with Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmmar and Vietnam to the north and Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Timor Leste to the south, has long been a transit point for human trafficking.

Aegile Fernandez, anti-human trafficking coordinator of NGO Tenaganita, said human traffickers also promised victims that Malaysia, a relatively prosperous and peaceful country, was the "haven" that they were looking for.

Human trafficking is closely related to the illegal immigrants issue. Most illegal immigrants come to Malaysia for "lucrative" jobs promised by traffickers.

However, when these foreigners, mostly from Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia, failed to get the jobs promised, they became the pawns of the traffickers.

According to Tenaganita statistics, the demand for children and women as workers or for the flesh trade was on the rise.

Their statistics show that from May 1, 2004 to May, 2009, 117 foreign children and women had been found to be modern day human slaves in Malaysia.

"Among the victims were children as young as 12 and women who were senior citizens. Some were lured by the promise of good wages and legal employment but the reality was that they were victims of human trafficking," said Fernandez.

She said the immigrants were unable to obtain these basic neccesities in their home countries and that was the main reason why they left.

Hence, they easily became prey to human traffickers promises. "The traffickers also promised things like beautiful clothes and the likes, money that could be sent home, cars and other things to camouflage their real intentions," she said.

There were also women who followed their boyfriends for love, money and a comfortable life abroad, she said.

"Unfortunately, it was too late for these women when they found out later that they had been tricked into white slavery," said Fernandez, adding that Malaysian women should also be aware of similar tactics by foreign men.

Traffickers use several guises to deceive their victims, including the "female order bride" tag to smuggle women into the country to work almost round-the-clock to pay back the money owed to the syndicates.

"In the morning the women worked as rubber tappers. In the afternoon they became part-time maids, washing clothes, cleaning houses and cooking food. At night they were in the flesh trade," said Fernandez.

So called "fisherman stowes" were men from Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia who were forced to work on trawlers off the coasts of Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.

Fernandez said most of these modern day slaves were given only three days leave a month. They worked round-the-clock and if they fell sick, they were deprived of adequate medical attention.

Those who died from their illness were simply thrown overboard, she said.

Due to the severe mental trauma they faced, many victims of human trafficking resort to suicide.

Fernandez said most of the vitims mentally traumatised were women and children, and they were difficult to treat.

"One woman was forced into white slavery. She experienced severe mental trauma and had tried to escape. As a result she felt dirty and repeatedly washed herself. She kept away from others, from the outside world," said Fernandez.

The woman's ordeal began at age 12 when she came from Cambodia to Malaysia and later moved to England.

She had attempted to escape a syndicate, but failed. As punishment, she was stripped naked and hung upside down while her fingers were inserted into live power sockets," said Fernandez.

Tenaganita managed to rescue her when she was 16, but by then she had already contracted HIV and she is now in a shelter home.

Fernandez said the victim was deeply traumatised and had contemplated suicide. She also refused to meet her parents and undergo medical examination. She became reclusive.

According to Fernandez, victims of trafficking syndicates were forced to consume heroin or cocaine during the day to make them asleep. At night they were forced to take ecstasy to entertain clients.

She said neighbours should not simply ignore anything suspicious happening around them.

"Instead, they should be inquisitive, and report to the authorities if they witness anything suspicious," she added .

Bernama