IOM and the Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday launched a three-day
introductory training on combating human trafficking for Malaysian
civil servants.

The training, which is being attended by 31 representatives from
the Ministries of Home Affairs, Women, Family and Community
Development, Human Resources and Information, and Communication
& Culture, is taking place in the administrative capital
Putrajaya and was opened by Dato' Rahim bin Mohd Radzi, Deputy
Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

IOM Regional Representative for South East Asia Andrew Bruce,
who attended the launch,   noted that the training was
the first of its kind, although IOM has assisted the Malaysian
Immigration Department in rescuing and returning a number of
victims of trafficking to Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand
and Mongolia over the past three years.

"Malaysia has an excellent basis for combating trafficking in
its 2007 Act, but still faces challenges in implementing the
legislation, because of the complexity of the crime and the
difficulty of detecting it at borders, given that the exploitation
suffered by victims often only begins when they are already in the
country," he said.

"Public information campaigns that raise public awareness of
human trafficking are one important preventive tool that can alert
both potential victims and the general public to this crime, which
can often pass un-noticed," he added.

IOM has been implementing counter-trafficking activities in
South East Asia in close collaboration with governments in the
region since 1994.  Its activities include protection of
victims, including their return and reintegration; prevention
measures, including awareness raising; increased prosecution of
traffickers by helping governments to strengthen legislation and
implement it more effectively through law enforcement agencies; and
government and NGO capacity building.

IOM is the leading international agency in the field of counter
trafficking and has provided assistance to over 20,000 victims
since the mid-1990s. Its Global Counter Trafficking Database
contains details of over 13,500 trafficking cases.

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Valerie Dourdin-Fernandez

IOM Kuala Lumpur

Tel. +60.9235-5552

E-mail: "mailto:vdourdin@iom.int">vdourdin@iom.int