SLAVERY is taking a 21st-century look. If long ago, people were forced into slavery, today they are enticed into it with offers too good to be true. "Work while vacationing overseas" is one fake ad that is a human traffickers' staple in social media.
If Malaysians think "overseas" is Spain, Portugal or Britain, think again. It is another name for Cambodia or Myanmar, arguably the nation of human trafficking. Indeed, a 28-year-old Malaysian died in an immigration centre in Myanmar, after being badly beaten by a job scam syndicate that trafficked him into going there.
As for "vacationing", it means working as scammers for the syndicate, locked in a room, possibly even chained, to prevent escape.
Sadly, the 28 year old wasn't the only Malaysian trafficked. According to the Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Mapo), 519 Malaysians were victims of such job scam syndicates, of whom 266 have been rescued.
Mapo figures also show that 153 Malaysians were stranded overseas, some in detention centres and shelter homes. Yet, many Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia leavers are still falling prey to online enticements.
The fault lies at many levels. Parents must take a good share of the blame. The SPM leavers may be too young to tell a fake ad from a real one.
Parents must help them tell the difference. Schools, too, have a role in making these young minds understand what is real and what is fake. Left to themselves, some schools would take this task seriously, others won't.
The Education Ministry must make sure they all do. Mapo can help, but it can only do so much. Even if it went flat out, their actions will be after the fact. Once a Malaysian has been trafficked overseas, it is one long and difficult journey back home.
At times, the victim ends up coming back in a body bag. It shouldn't end this way if only everyone — the jobseeker, parents, the Education Ministry and authorities — played their part.
The reverse flow of human trafficking must be of equal concern to Malaysia, too. According to MigrantCare, Indonesian school-leavers are being tricked to work as cleaners in Malaysia by unscrupulous agents from Indonesia and Malaysia. It gets even worse.
Mapo says 67 children under 18 were rescued from traffickers in the last five years. They were trafficked here to "work" as beggars or roadside vendors. If Malaysia doesn't watch it, it may soon be in the same league as Myanmar, judging by the number of people being trafficked into the country.
The time has come for the authorities to ask themselves why it is so easy to traffic babies, children, women and men into Malaysia. Porous borders? Laws with loopholes like the Anti-Trafficking In Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Atipsom)? Weak to no enforcement? All of the above?
A former home minister admitted to the first, saying it was a big challenge to Malaysia's security enforcement agencies. Challenge though it is, the ministry mustn't stop at merely acknowledging it. It must do more to stop it being a security threat to the country.
As for the laws with loopholes, Mapo has suggested that Atipsom maybe reviewed to give it more bite. "Maybe" isn't good enough. Other toothless laws must be reviewed, too. One Wang Kelian is one too many.