SUNGAI PETANI, Nov 5 — The government will do its best to rescue all human trafficking victims trapped abroad, based on ‘the right to return’ principle.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said under the principle, the government will use whatever methods to save Malaysians in trouble abroad after receiving an official report.

"The number (of human trafficking victims) have risen over the past four or five years...in terms of our police force, whatever rescue attempt we will make has a clear principle.

"First the government will prioritise the right to return to Malaysians wherever they are, as long as we know they’re abroad and in trouble, the government will do everything possible to get them home,” he told reporters here today in response to claims highlighted in news reports that almost 2,000 Malaysians, believed to be human trafficking victims, were still trapped and were unable to save themselves in several neighbouring countries since last year.

Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim was reported to have said that the organisation received complaints from hundreds of family members of victims seeking help to bring them home, with over 1,200 victims being held against their will in Myanmar alone.

Saifuddin also said that the government would use diplomatic or agency-to-agency connections or intelligence sharing in efforts to track and rescue victims.

He also touched on the purported number of victims, stating that they would only refer to the total number of official cases reported to the authorities.

"That number is what they (MHO) gathered. I will only comment based on the official number provided by the authorities to me on a periodic basis.

"Whether the number matches what the police gather, through complaints from families...NGOs (non-governmental organisations) may have other channels. It’s important to establish an accurate number. Let the government act on the official number that’s most authoritative, as only through official numbers can we establish assistance through cooperation with the countries involved.

"In terms of the Cabinet, it’s under the Foreign Ministry and the Home Ministry is an important ministry in terms of operations, when we establish a complaint, we conduct confirmations and rescue operations, it requires police-to-police cooperation with foreign countries,” he said.

Saifuddin added that cooperation from family members of the victims was also very crucial as authorities needed all kinds of information for profiling purposes after the victims are rescued.

The information gathered so far included whether victims were really naive and were duped by the human trafficking syndicate.

"Some knew from the start it was a scam but still went over, while there are some who have nothing to do with scams, they gambled abroad, lost and borrowed from loansharks and couldn’t return home, so they claim to be a victim. Some are victims, police saved them but they also went over,” he added. — Bernama