Malaysia’s government pledged on Monday to take steps to eliminate forced labour after the country was downgraded by the US to the worst level in an annual report on human trafficking.
Human Resources Minister M Saravanan said the government is taking the downgrade seriously and has ramped up efforts to battle human trafficking, including increased prosecution for companies involved in forced labour.
The US State Department’s annual “Trafficking in Persons” report, released July 2, cited the coronavirus pandemic as contributing to a surge in human slavery between 2020 and 2021.
It said Malaysia, which had been on a watchlist for three years, was downgraded to Tier 3 for failing to meet minimal standards for the elimination of trafficking and was not making significant efforts to do. Malaysia joins more than a dozen other countries including China, Russia and North Korea.
The downgrade means that without a US presidential waiver, Malaysia could lose some US assistance, although decisions on such penalties will not be made until later this year.
Some Malaysian rubber glove makers and palm oil plantations have come under scrutiny over allegations of forced labour. The US has banned products from the world’’s largest glove maker, Top Glove, as well as plantation giants FGV Holdings Berhad and Sime Darby Berhad due to allegations of forced labour and other abuses. FGV is partially owned by the government.
The US report said Malaysia continued to conflate human trafficking and migrant smuggling, which impeded anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim identification efforts. It said Malaysia failed to adequately address or criminally pursue credible allegations of labour trafficking, including in the rubber manufacturing industry and palm oil sector.