Political interference from right at the top of the US government will be the only explanation if Malaysia’s human trafficking rating is raised next week, says human rights expert John Sifton.

 

“Let’s be clear: this is not a grey area,” he stated last night. “Malaysia has done very little to combat this scourge [of human trafficking]. They have done very little since they were moved to Tier 3 to merit an upgrade.

 

“If this had happened on House of Cards I’d say, oh, that’s not plausible.”

 

Sifton, who is the Asia Director at international NGO Human Rights Watch, made the comments in a press conference call, where he was joined by US senator Bob Menendez, Glorene Das, director of the Malaysian anti-trafficking NGO Tenaganita, and Simone Campbell of the Catholic human rights advocacy group Network.