CHAPTER 4 - REPORT OF THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS WORKING GROUP
that it had relayed this matter to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, leading to a court date
being set.
The victims further said that the Bangladeshi High Commission had not visited them. On their
request, the Commission wrote to the diplomatic mission in April with information about the
victims and the assistance they had requested.
(b) Trafficking in Persons (TIP)
The ECOSOCWG produced a multilingual brochure on TIP, translated from the Bahasa Malaysia and
English versions. This provides basic information on the dangers of TIP as well as the rights of victims.
Written in the Mandarin, Tamil, Thai, Myanmar, Sinhala and Tagalog languages, the multilingual
version is targeted at foreign victims and Malaysians who are not fluent in Bahasa Malaysia and English.
The brochure will be distributed at the Commission’s road shows and ‘Meet-the-People’ sessions.
Copies will also be placed at airports, in travel agencies and, where feasible, places frequented by
migrants in Malaysia.
(c) Council for ATIP and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants, Malaysia
As an active member of the Council, the Commission provided input on matters raised at meetings,
including shelter audits, the Council’s standard operating procedure, and a risk management survey.
The Commission focused on the capacity and health of the protection and security personnel at
shelters for rescued victims. The Commission put the Council in touch with several NGOs and
associations, such as the Sunway Rotary Club and SUKA Society Malaysia, to carry out immunisation
of the personnel, and to conduct cardio-pulmonary resuscitation training for them.
(d) Government Response to TIP Issues
The Government Response on the Commission’s Annual Report 2010 was received early in the year.
The Commission affirms that the responses satisfy some of the recommendations on TIP. However,
the following issues are reiterated for the Government’s further consideration:
(i)
Awareness-raising activities
The Commission had recommended the empowerment of the public to report suspected TIP
activities by educating them on the issue. The Government said that, while it has implemented
various awareness-raising programmes and campaigns, it considers the awareness level of the
public and their willingness to report suspected TIP activities to be two different matters. The
latter, in particular, is a role that cannot be imposed as it depends on the individual’s sense of
responsibility.
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