Gaybutton Posted August 18, 2008 Posted August 18, 2008 The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Seminar: Police Under Fire over Human Trafficking By Chularat Saengpassa The Nation, Hat Yai Published on August 18, 2008 South locals at a recent seminar on child prostitution and human trafficking point their fingers at police inefficiency and corruption. Student leaders in Hat Yai and Sadao, Songkhla, said they knew where brothels and karaoke bars offering prostitution were. How is it the police are unaware of this? they ask. The head of a youth and student council in Hat Yai said "Why don't the police arrest traffickers? "They keep targeting teenagers like us at road checkpoints with trivial charges - like our motorcycles have loose chains." Both districts are used by traffickers to "rest" girls and women before they are smuggled into Malaysia. The girls provide sex service to locals and foreigners during their brief stays. The women and girls - who are either forced into or willing to enter the sex business - are from Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and China. Chinese women - or those who speak Chinese or English - are popular among Malaysian or Singaporean clients. Willing local women are smuggled into Malaysia or Singapore through these channels. They may end up being taken to Europe where the traffickers can get more money for them. Between 2004 and 2008, 532 cases of trafficking were reported to Malaysian authorities. Almost 490 involved girls from this country. Both police in Songkhla and immigration police rarely launch investigations or arrest traffickers. Police occasionally receive complaints from trafficked women who escape from brothels. And, in almost every case, the first thing these women get is not help, but charged with illegal entry. A woman official said she always had to be careful about "which police officers" she approached for help. "We are never certain about police officers we deal with. Are they on the traffickers' side. But we have no choice. We need the police to make arrests." The woman said the police here elect to charge trafficked women with illegal entry before deporting them. A Yunnam woman escaped from traffickers, but police charged her with illegal entry. They barely interviewed her about the traffickers, explaining they had no Chinese interpreter. A woman's foundation eventually came to her aid, providing shelter and translators. There were never any arrests because she was unable to provide enough details about the traffickers and their operation. She had been kept at more than 10 different locations. Anant Dissara, chief of the provincial human-development and human-security office, said more and more women were voluntarily entering the sex business. They hoped to find a foreign tourist who would keep them as a mistress. Entertainment venues, where sex is secretly provided, such as karaoke bars or massage parlours, are mushrooming in both districts. He said male sex workers were in increasingly high demand in Malaysia. Sopha Kaewsanit, an activist, said she believed there was no way Songkhla police were unaware of these operations. She said van after van packed with young, good-looking girls were being allowed to enter Malaysia through border checkpoints on a daily basis without being questioned. "The police should have been suspicious, and detained them for questioning. But no such thing has been done. They know about everything going on, but take no action," she added. Songkhla police officer Lt Colonel Thanawat Phoojinda said tip offs usually came too late for action. The traffickers are swift. The new anti-human trafficking law authorises police to conduct raids or searches or make arrests without getting a court warrant. But, Thanawat said police needed warrants as an assurance that officers would not face counter allegations of wrongful arrest if no evidence or women turned up. Sadao immigration officer Lt Colonel Phiphat Phongphan said police could do nothing without warrants because they would be sued. Quote
