Azlan Othman
Brunei Darussalam was recently upgraded to the Tier 2 Watchlist of United States’ Trafficking in Persons (TIP) 2023 report.
In its latest report published on Thursday, Brunei falls among Malaysia and Vietnam, and many African countries in the Tier 2 Watchlist.
In last year’s report, the Sultanate was downgraded to Tier 3 after being on the Tier 2 Watchlist status for three consecutive years until 2021.
This year’s report said the Brunei Government made key achievements during the reporting period.
These achievements included prosecuting two alleged labour traffickers; identifying 14 labour trafficking victims and providing them with special passes to find alternate employment.
Brunei had also opened two shelters for trafficking victims, passed regulations limiting worker-paid recruitment fees for domestic workers and signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding with the government of Bangladesh on migrant workers recruitment.
The report also recommended the Sultanate to increase efforts in investigating, prosecuting, convicting and seeking adequate penalties of significant prison terms for both sex and labour traffickers.
The report added that the authorities should also train investigators and prosecutors on building trafficking cases.
