SUNGAI BULOH: Three Myanmar teenagers believed to have been exploited for hard labour have been rescued by police here.
They were said to have lived in deplorable conditions in a small room and were forced to work long hours. They were also barred from leaving the premises.
Bukit Aman CID Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) unit (D3) principal assistant director Senior Asst Comm Soffian Santong said a check was made on a factory at Kampung Sungai Buloh at around 2.30pm on Thursday (Jan 4).
"Our personnel visited the factory with (representatives from the) National Strategic Office to the Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (NSO Mapo) for the purpose of identifying victims of forced labour.
"We arrested 11 people and rescued three victims aged between 13 and 17 from Myanmar," he said when contacted on Friday (Jan 5).
He said those arrested were a 27-year-old Indian national who was the factory supervisor and 10 undocumented migrants comprising five Bangladeshi, three Indian and two Myanmar men.
"Checks revealed that the factory specialised in recycling electronic waste and had been operating with an expired business licence for over a year.
"When we interviewed the victims with the help of a translator, they claimed that they were not allowed to go out and forced to work long hours," he said.
The victims were paid between RM1,200 and RM1,300 monthly, he added.
"Those arrested, as well as the rescued victims, were brought to Sungai Buloh police headquarters for further action," SAC Soffian said.
