Significant Increase In Malaysian Commitment To Address Human Trafficking Issues

KUCHING (Sarawak, Malaysia), April 7 (Bernama) -- There has been significant increase in the Malaysian government's commitment in addressing the trafficking in persons issues lately, said United States Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Edgard D. Kagan. He was very impressed by the effort Malaysia had put in place, and was convinced that the government was seriously trying to improve the overall effort against the trafficking. The Malaysian government had in place a better coordination in combating the issues, and had come up with a more victim-centered approach in dealing with them, he said. "We see real progress here, this is something that is ongoing. The reality is that every country can do better in dealing with the trafficking, US included. "This is a a problem faced by every country, something we all benefit from sharing the experiences and better understanding on what works and what does not work," he told a press conference after the launching of a workshop on Reporting on Trafficking in Persons. Organised by the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) in partnership with the US Embassy and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Council (MAPO), the three-day workshop aimed to help journalists understand the role of the media in combating trafficking in persons, ant to build their capacity to report on the issue. Some 42 journalists representing 21 media organisation took part in the workshop, including three from the Indonesian media. In June last year, the US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report 2014 (TIP) has downgraded Malaysia to Tier 3 of the Watch List from the previous standing of Tier 2. The TIP report ranks countries across the globe based on their compliance of the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2000 (TVPA) and is evaluated annually by the US Department of State. Meanwhile MPI Chief Executive Officer Chamil Wariya was happy to note that the awareness of the local journalists on the issues was increasing. He said the important thing was to educate and build up knowledge among the journalists, as they are the ones who played an important role as the 'middle men' in disseminating news and information to the public. -- BERNAMA