KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — Klang Valley MP Charles Santiago and Parit Buntar MP Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa said today that officers responsible for undocumented labour issues should receive pay cuts or be penalised for their actions.

According to Charles, the Indonesian embassy to Malaysia has criticised the country for using the online domestic worker recruitment system which allegedly opens up chances for human trafficking, in addition to not being included in the deal signed between both countries.

"Application MAID online is used by the home minister itself although they know this will give opportunity for human trafficking to happen,

"And what is worse is that it’s happening in the minister’s own ministry. Therefore, should the minister be punished for this?” asked Charles while debating Malaysia's place in the lowest of the United States' Human Trafficking Report 2022 in Parliament.

Mujahid also concurred with Charles' suggestion, saying the cost of dealing with human trafficking and its related matters is higher than the legal recruitment of foreign workers.

He added that involved ministers should be punished as a deterrent to corruption.

"Why are we wasting our money on this? We have failed in this because we have corrupted officials, and we are not taking serious action to prosecute them,

"Therefore, we must do something, or if not, we need to cut their salaries,” Mujahid concluded.

Malaysia has remained at Tier 3 of the US Trafficking in Persons report for 2022, with US authorities saying Malaysia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.