Agence France Presse

Kuala Lumpur, May 27:

A Malaysian state was criticised today over a proposal to ban the entry of single women travelling alone from mainland China as part of efforts to curb prostitution. Such a ban would be discriminatory against women and Sarawak state authorities should instead tackle the root causes of trafficking and take firm action against recruiters and pimps, a rights group said.

Sarawak police said this week they would submit a proposal to the state government calling for the ban, citing statistics that at least 40 women from China enter Borneo island daily. Many had been caught in nightclubs for prostitution, other vices and overstaying, police chief Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai said.

But the Tenaganita rights group said the arrests and investigations should have provided sufficient information on how the women were trafficked and forced into prostitution.

“With the information, the enforcement agencies should have tracked down the traffickers and identified the syndicates,” said Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez. “The immigration department should stop further victimising.” “The continued criminalising of the women only encourages more trafficking of women as the pimps and brokers go free,” she said. New strategies needed to be deployed so that local enforcement agencies were not involved in investigations, she said adding there could be a “high probability” of the involvement of local officers.