Malaysia detains nine Vietnamese women for illegal sex work

By Nguyen Quy   August 5, 2018 | 10:16 pm PT
Malaysian authorities have arrested 24 women, including nine Vietnamese, in an anti-prostitution raid in Melaka.

The raid was conducted on Saturday following several months’ surveillance of an old building on Jalan Tun Ali Street that hosted a small pub and 10 rooms which were used for prostitution, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Chee Leong, head of the anti-prostitution operation, said that the 24 women, 15 Thai and 9 Vietnamese, were illegal sex workers.

Prior to the crackdown, local officials had several times failed to access the highly-secured building with its entrance gate carefully locked and many security cameras installed to detect any raid, officials said.

During Saturday’s raid, officials also apprehended six men, including a supervisor, two guards, and three customers. They are being held pending further investigation.

Last year, the Malaysian police had launched a large-scale crackdown on prostitution dens and nabbed 28 women, including five Vietnamese nationals who were alleged to have entered Malaysia with 90-day social visit passes.

Vietnam reported 670 human trafficking victims last year, down almost half from 1,128 in 2016. Most victims were uneducated women and children from poor areas who were sold to men seeking wives in China, Malaysia and South Korea, or just to bear children, or work as prostitutes in these countries.

 
 
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