Calls for a bilateral agreement to combat a human trafficking industry that has trapped hundreds of Cambodian girls in Kuala Lumpur in recent years received a muted reply from Malaysia’s new prime minister Monday.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters that Malaysia “was committed to helping Cambodia to develop capacity” but did not sign any formal agreements after a 90-minute meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Council of Ministers. Abdullah and Hun Sen did not take reporters’ questions.
Abdullah, only three months into his term, arrived Monday afternoon and was scheduled to return Monday night to Kuala Lumpur after a meeting with local Malaysian businessmen and a banquet in his honor at Hotel Le Royal.
The diplomatic meeting was Abdullah’s first in Cambodia as prime minister. An adviser to Hun Sen said after the meeting that the two leaders had agreed in principle to encourage trade and investment, as well as complete a long-stalled portion of the Asean railroad linking Poipet town to Sisophon in Banteay Meanchey province.
Malaysia is expected to send used railway equipment to construct the 48-km stretch in the middle of this year, said Prak Sokhon, deputy secretary-general for the Royal Government.
Regarding a booming sex trafficking industry, Prak Sokhon said Abdullah “understands there should be serious prosecution [of human traffickers] according to the law.” Three Cambodian women were repatriated this month after nearly a year in a Malaysian detention center on illegal immigration charges, and a fourth is being treated for a premature childbirth before her return. The women say they were trafficked to Kuala Lumpur as sex workers.
In the wake of the legal wrangling to get the women back, Minister of Women’s Affairs Mu Sochua called for the countries to make a formal agreement to repatriate trafficking victims.
