KOTA KINABALU: Eight teenage girls, some as young as 14, were rescued from a factory where they were made to work as forced labour in Sabah’s east coast Lahad Datu district.
The factory was also found employing scores of foreigners without valid travel passes or working permits during the raid by the Sabah Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) anti-vice, gambling and secret societies division (D7) on Tuesday.
Sabah CID chief Senior Asst Comm Azmi Abd Rahim said they stormed the factory on Jalan Tungku in Silabukan, following a public tip-off at 8.50am.
“We managed to rescue the girls, aged between 14 and 18, who originated from the Philippines and Indonesia, working at the factory,” he said yesterday.
The raid led to the detention of the 41-year-old Taiwanese manager, the factory’s supervisor, and clerk.
SAC Azmi said the detainees were being investigated under Section 14 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) Act for trafficking humans, in this case minors, for the purpose of exploitation.
It carries a minimum of five years’ jail term up to life imprisonment and whipping, upon conviction.
The suspects were also being probed under Section 55B of the Immigration Act for employing foreigners without a valid permit.
SAC Azmi said they also rounded up 18 other foreign workers who could not provide valid identification documents in the same operation.
He said the workers, also comprising Filipinos and Indonesians, consisted of eight men and 10 women aged between 17 and 35.
The detainees have been brought to the Lahad Datu police station for investigations under the Immigration Act.
The operation, led by Sabah CID staff officer Deputy Supt Heryan Mohd Tahir, was jointly held with the Lahad Datu CID and anti-narcotics division as well as the Sabah Labour Department.
SAC Azmi said a nationwide anti-human trafficking operation was launched on Jan 22 to stamp out the crime.
He said the focus of the operation was to identify victims of child labour exploitation based on the National Guideline On Human Trafficking Indicators 2.0.
