The New Straits Times - Share info on corrupt officials, PM tells US

2009/01/15
The New Straits Times - Share info on corrupt officials, PM tells US

KUALA TERENGGANU: Malaysia wants the United States to share any information it has on corrupt Malaysian enforcement officials who purportedly extorted money from foreign nationals and were involved in human trafficking.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government would not tolerate such criminal activities and urged the US to pass on any information it had so that these individuals could be prosecuted.

He said he was prepared to ask the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is probing the matter, for cooperation.

He was commenting on an AFP report which reported that the US Senate was investigating allegations that officials in Malaysia were extorting money from foreign migrants and were linked to human trafficking.

Abdullah said the government viewed seriously the report and would take action.

Quoting American officials, the report said the migrants, mostly from Myanmar but also from other countries, were allegedly taken by government officials to the border between Malaysia and Thailand, where they were extorted or sold to human trafficking syndicates.

The probe is being conducted by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the findings will be relayed to key US enforcement agencies and Interpol for possible action, senate officials said.

Staff from the committee have travelled to Malaysia, Thailand, and the Malaysia-Thailand border, collecting information as part of the investigations, officials said.

"If all reports are accurate, then as many as a few thousand Myanmar migrants in Malaysia may have been taken to the Malaysia-Thai border in recent years," the committee staff member said.