©New
Straits Times (Used by permission)
An increasing number of young Malaysian girls are being trafficked out of the
country. Some are lured into becoming trophy wives. While some are spirited
away, others go voluntarily. Why is this happening? How many girls have fallen
victim? AUDREY VIJAINDREN and NURRIS ISHAK look for answers.
NURUL Wahida Hamzah was 17 years old when she was reported
missing from her home in Chenderong Balai, Teluk Intan, in 2005 by her family.
It was said that Nurul, who had just completed her SPM examinations, developed a
relationship with a 40–year–old Indonesian construction worker, M. Yusup, and
followed him to Lombok Timur in eastern Indonesia.
According to a family friend, Nurul had married the man soon after they went to
Lombok Timur in 2005 and had changed her name to Putri Sofia. She also had a
baby boy who died after 18 months due to breathing difficulties.
Her worried parents searched high and low for her and sought the help of various
people. Finally, an international non–governmental organisation called Migrant
Care traced Nurul to a Lombok Timur village. She was brought back and reunited
with her parents earlier this month.
The same NGO was successful in locating another missing Malaysian, Che Siti Nor
Azreen Che Ishak, 13.
Migrant Care, with the help of Malaysian–based NGO, Kijang Care, recently
located another girl, Normalisa Abd Ghani, of Bahau, Negri Sembilan. Efforts are
now being made to bring her back from Indonesia.
Nurul and Azreen were lucky not to have been be exploited. In many other
instances, according to NGOs, Malaysian girls have been taken to Indonesia and
later sent to the Middle East to work as "Indonesian maids". Some of these girls
are physically and sexually abused.
Nurul and Azreen are among hundreds of Malaysian girls who are being trafficked
to other countries, especially Indonesia, or who get attracted to Indonesian men
working in Malaysia and follow them home.
No one has any figures as to the number of Malaysian girls who have been
spirited away or who had been lured by foreign men working in Malaysia to become
their wives.
A spokesman for the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta said there were no official
statistics.
But Migrant Care Malaysian representative Alex Ong says his organisation was
aware of at least 47 Malaysian girls in Lombok, Indonesia.
Only two of the 47 had emigrated to Indonesia after marrying their Indonesian
spouses here. The rest, he said, had been spirited away by Indonesian labourers
who had been working in Malaysia.
"Most of them are between the ages of 13 and 30," he said.
A five–year study conducted by a group of researchers from universities in
France, the United States, Australia, Scandinavia and Spain, in collaboration
with three top universities in Indonesia, found that matters of the heart play a
key role in women emigrating to Indonesia.
The team of researchers included volunteers from Migrant Care who were doing
their masters programmes in fields such as sociology and cultural anthropology.
According to date from the Indonesian Human Resources Ministry, one million of
the 4.5 million men on Lombok island are working as labourers in Malaysia. Only
about about half of them entered Malaysia legally, according to official data.
The study revealed that Malaysian girls were taken to Indonesia by illegal
immigrants. Most of the girls were in their teens and from lower–income
families.
It found that the girls were spirited away on boats used to smuggle items such
as cigarettes and textiles.
Ong said many of the Indonesians, especially from Lombok, would jump at the
chance of bringing back a "trophy" wife.
"It is an age–old head–hunter mentality where if you dare run away with a girl
from the next village, you are seen as a hero.
"Some girls follow these men because they are truly in love and want to be with
their husbands. But others have been lured by false promises. It is difficult to
tell the difference when it comes to matters of the heart."
Once these girls were taken to the villages in Lombok, Ong said, it was
difficult to get them out.
In certain parts of Indonesia, especially in Nusa Tenggara, marrying foreigners
has become part of the culture.
Upon marriage, regardless of the bride's age, her connections with her family in
Malaysia are severed by their husbands and in–laws. Her identity is also changed
to hide her origin.
Ong said most of the men were sweet talkers and that in many cases, the men even
gave part of their salary to these girls.
"It is very tempting for young women, especially those from broken homes. These
men also treat them better than the local men. They are more gentle, patient and
generous."
Tenaganita programme officer Florida Sandanasamy said there were two issues
involved.
"One is of underage girls being 'trafficked' out of the country by foreign men.
These girls are young and vulnerable. And although they are willingly following
these men back to their home country, it is still considered trafficking.
"The other issue involves girls of a legal age who leave the country hoping for
a better future. Some of these girls are in love and wish to stay with their
husbands.
"But because the legal process in Malaysia is rather prohibitive, these girls
prefer to leave the country with their spouse.
"Any marriage of children below 18 years is trafficking. These girls are victims
of traffickers. If the marriage is done after giving the girls a false identity,
then that marriage is not valid. They become even more vulnerable."
She said the implementation of the Anti–Human Trafficking Act was crucial in at
least reducing the trade in Malaysian women.