TEAM TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING - IGP

KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 (Bernama) -- A team comprising police and immigration
departnment officers has been set up to combat human trafficking.

Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan said the team was currently
investigating allegations on syndicated human trafficking activities involving
enforcement officers at the Malaysia-Thai border.

"The Malaysian Government is serious in combating human trafficking. Legal
action will be taken against those involved, and we are also working closely
with our Thai counterparts in the investigation," he said in a statement here
Wednesday.

Musa said the police were fully committed in addressing human trafficking
issues, in line with the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007 (Act) 670, which
was enforced on Feb 28, last year.

He said the act had taken into consideration, the United Nation's protocol
to prevent, suppress and punish perpetrators of trafficking in persons,
especially women and children.

"A tripartite meeting among the police chiefs of Malaysia, Brunei and
Indonesia was convened early this year, whereby matters pertaining to
trans-national crimes, particularly human trafficking, were discussed
extensively," added the IGP.

In January, a foreign news agency reported that the US Senate was
investigating allegations that officials in Malaysia were extorting money from
foreign migrants and were linked to human trafficking.

The AFP report, among others, stated that the migrants, mostly from
military-ruled Myanmar, were allegedly taken by government officials to the
border between Malaysia and Thailand where they were extorted or sold to human
trafficking syndicates.
-- BERNAMA