Petaling Jaya (The Star/ANN) - There have been many cases of young women from China ending up in the sex trade in Malaysia after they are duped by syndicates to travel overseas for jobs.
"They were usually told they would work as factory workers, maids or masseuses. Upon arrival, they are forced into vice," said Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Public Services and Complaints Department chief Datuk Michael Chong.
Chong said most of the women were from poor families in the rural areas of China who were enticed by the promise of well-paying jobs overseas. He believed some even knew they would eventually end up as sex workers, but would still accept the jobs overseas to escape the abject poverty they faced.
Chong suspected international syndicates were working with local ones to illegally traffic these young women.
He lauded Malaysia's recent pact with China to tackle transnational organised crime as a good move to go after these syndicates.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had on Saturday said Malaysia would sign a memorandum of understanding with China which not only focused on the exchange of information, but also involved joint efforts in training, border control and in-depth study on criminal activities.
Separately, MCA vice-president Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai described the collaboration between China and Malaysia as timely, as crimes were becoming more prevalent with more economic activities taking place between the two countries.
-- Yahoo!