Malaysian police gof-ed over human traffickers

So how is it that the Malaysian police have not taken any action against these human traffickers who have been operating with impunity for years?

Kua Kia Soong, SUARAM Adviser

The shocking discovery of mass graves of trafficked migrants near the Malaysian-Thai border brings into question the priorities and effectualness of the Malaysian police. Not only NGOs such as Tenaganita have been telling us but recently an UMNO Adun from a northern state also said he had known about these camps used by human traffickers near the Thai border for years.

So how is it that the Malaysian police have not taken any action against these human traffickers who have been operating with impunity for years? Let me remind Malaysians and the world that the Malaysian police, especially its “General Operations Force” (GOF) was established in 1948 during the Malayan Emergency by the British Administration. Then called the “Police Field Force” (PFF), it was mobilised primarily to engage anti-colonial guerrillas in the jungle during the insurgency.

After Malaysia was established in 1963, the order was placed under the Chief of Police. The Police Field Force was also involved during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontations. In various actions during the Confrontation, the Police Field Force dealt with Indonesian irregulars sent to the peninsula.

Following the 13 May 1969 incident, the Malaysian government began to deploy the Police Field Force to handle public order situations. After the disarmament of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) on 2 December 1989, the PFF changed its name to the General Operations Force (GOF) in 1997. Its duties included providing security to dignitaries and “VVIPs” around the Klang Valley, protecting the security of borders and territorial waters from invasion threats and illegal immigrants, robbery and smuggling at sea, maintaining public order and preventing crime.

A GOF brigade is therefore trained, equipped and organised for paramilitary roles in the field and also for dealing with urban “disturbances”. However, of late we have mainly witnessed GOF personnel deployed in dispersing peaceful assemblies.

SEND GOF BACK TO THE JUNGLE!

After this latest goof by the Malaysian police, it is time for the government to rethink the priorities of the Malaysian police. Stop using the police force to snoop on dissidents and to disrupt peaceful assemblies. Specially trained police personnel like GOF should be deployed in the jungle to deal with modern day criminals including human traffickers, illegal loggers and poachers of endangered species.

If they could fight the guerrillas for more than two decades, why are they ineffectual against human traffickers near the Thai border who have been operating for so many years? Is it a case of misplaced priorities by the Home Ministry or are there more sinister motives behind the impunity they have enjoyed all these years? These serious questions do require a commission of enquiry to unravel the truth…