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 Asian values apparently don't protecting individuals from exploitation
Asian governments variously proclaim commitment to Asian values, Confucian, Islamic or Marxist principles or the rule of statute
law. Or all of them. But when it comes to human rights, to enforcing
laws intended to protect individuals and families alike from
exploitation, greed, slavery and discrimination somehow the values are
forgotten in favor of money or convenience.
The
latest report by the US State Department on Human Trafficking makes
dismal reading, particularly for those countries which have the
financial and governmental resources to do something about it which must include Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau.
Of course the governments can argue that a nation which brought the world the Iraq war and Guantanamo
has no business lecturing others on human rights. But whatever they
think of the US, citizens of Asian countries have every right to know
about the abuses committed in their name by governments turning a blind eye to gross ill-treatment of fellow humans, many of which are already illegal and others should be.
The report is particularly harsh on Malaysia
which has been relegated to Tier 3, the lowest category in a system
which ranks countries according to the scale of the trafficking
problems and the efforts of the government to address it. In Malaysia it seems that even follow Malaysians are the victims, not just unfortunates from poorer countries.
Thus it notes reports of "women and girls of indigenous groups" being
trafficked for sex. "Indigenous" clearly refers to non-Malay Bumiputeras and Orang Asli. So it is okay traffic so long as the victims are foreigners or non-Muslim?
It
further notes the "credible reports" of Malaysian immigration officials
being involved in trafficking in Burmese refugees from immigration
detention centers. Although such claims have been made by NGOs and
documented in TV programs, and in a US Senate report, they have been persistently denied by the Malaysian government. No immigration officials have been arrested or prosecuted, let alone convicted by a politicized court system, for involvement in trafficking.
The report further notes
the continued abuse of foreign workers who were subject to bondage and
coercion as a result of failure to pay their wages, surrender of
passports and other measures which reduced them to a condition of
forced labor. Although ministers spoke out against trafficking and labor abuses, in reality little was done.
While
government inertia may be part of the problem in Malaysia as elsewhere,
local observers note that a political class which is itself so corrupt
has limited ability to address the corruption of officials whether
immigration officers actively exploiting detained migrants or being paid to turn a blind eye to illegal labor practices.
Macau, a territory of the Peoples Republic of China,
is not much better suggests the report. It notes the scant effort by
authorities to deal with the Chinese, Thai and Russian criminal gangs
who run the prostitution rackets. It does not specifically make a link
between Macao's
reliance on gambling and the symbiotic relationship between the casinos
and the sex trade. But it notes that trafficked girls are "closely
monitored, have their travel documents confiscated and are forced to
work long hours and threatened with violence. The control of some
victims by organized crime syndicates makes it particularly dangerous
for them to seek help."
Although the report notes that Macau has made a few efforts to combat trafficking and there were no reports of direct involvement of officials, efforts against rampant organized crime were inadequate.
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