KUALA LUMPUR: A Myanmar woman who was not paid wages and an Indonesian man who lost a finger – suspected of being exploited for labour at a used goods recycling factory in the Kundang Industrial area in Rawang – were rescued by the police, yesterday.
The Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling Division (ATIPSOM) principal assistant director SAC Soffian Santong said police found the woman and man, aged 22 and 28, in a raid at 4.10 pm at the factory that had been operating for the past year without a license.
“During the raid, the female victim was found in a room on the first floor of the factory crying in fear. The initial investigation carried out with the help of a translator found that the victim was not allowed to leave and had not received salary payments for more than four months,“ he said in a statement today.
He said the Indonesian man who had been working there for about a year had lost a finger on his right hand due to an accident at work and was found to have been neglected by the employer for failing to provide proper treatment.
He said based on indicators such as long working hours, non-payment of salary for more than three months and employer neglect, the victims were believed to be trafficked persons under Section 12 of the ATIPSOM Act 2007.
Soffian said the police also detained a man and woman from China who worked as the factory’s supervisor and assistant supervisor for further investigation, in addition to 15 illegal immigrants from Myanmar, China, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
He said the raid involved the cooperation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Migrant Smuggling Council of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Selangor Department of Manpower. –Bernama
