Johor Baru, Malaysia
Malaysian immigration officials discovered a major human trafficking syndicate when authorities detained 116 Indian and Sri Lankan citizens believed to be headed for Indonesia en route to Australia, official news reports said. The men and women, aged between seven months and 50 years old, were staying at an apartment in the southern state of Johor, said state immigration deputy director Muhammad Ali Abdullah. "More than 20 rooms were occupied by the foreigners, believed to be rented by smuggling agents. It is believed that three of the agents were also living at the place but they escaped during the raid," Muhammad Ali was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.
Location
Malaysia · Johor Baru · 2009 (location generalized to protect survivors)
Response & intervention
The 116 "illegal immigrants" were detained and then sent to an illegal immigrant detention centre in the state pending investigations, the report said.
Not as of yet have they been emancipated. At this point, the government officials have put them under arrest and have them detained. Whether this is actually a case of human trafficking or human smuggling, or whether the law enforcement even separates the to is questionable.
Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don't have a verifiable source on file yet — use “Report a problem” below to add one.