It is shocking that the Malaysian government response is to possibly provide counseling. Has the Malaysian government identified the victim, got in touch with family in Malaysia - maybe even arrange the usage of the Malaysian jet to immediately transport a family member to London - as this is what is urgently needed.
How does the Malaysian government support a Malaysian in need overseas?
Counselling for M'sian woman locked up for 30 years
 |
The
Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will provide
counselling service to the Malaysian woman who was rescued after being
locked up for 30 years in a house in south London.
Its Minister Rohani Abdul Karim said the counselling service would be given if needed as the women was probably traumatised after being locked up for a rather long time.
"We are still waiting for information from Wisma Putra on her progress," she told a press conference after opening a Welfare Volunteer Conference in Putrajaya today.
Yesterday, local television stations broadcasted news of three women including a Malaysian, aged 69, who were rescued after being detained for 30 years in a house in south London including one who was believed to have been locked up all her life.
A man and a woman, both 67, were detained on suspicion of using forced labour but were released on bail.
Meanwhile, in another development, Rohani encouraged the young to join the welfare volunteer programme to help target groups of the ministry such as senior citizens, single mothers and the handicapped.
"To date, we have 5,108 volunteer members since it was launched in 1995," he said, adding that the input of the young was crucial to help the less fortunate.
- Bernama
Its Minister Rohani Abdul Karim said the counselling service would be given if needed as the women was probably traumatised after being locked up for a rather long time.
"We are still waiting for information from Wisma Putra on her progress," she told a press conference after opening a Welfare Volunteer Conference in Putrajaya today.
Yesterday, local television stations broadcasted news of three women including a Malaysian, aged 69, who were rescued after being detained for 30 years in a house in south London including one who was believed to have been locked up all her life.
A man and a woman, both 67, were detained on suspicion of using forced labour but were released on bail.
Meanwhile, in another development, Rohani encouraged the young to join the welfare volunteer programme to help target groups of the ministry such as senior citizens, single mothers and the handicapped.
"To date, we have 5,108 volunteer members since it was launched in 1995," he said, adding that the input of the young was crucial to help the less fortunate.
- Bernama
Published:
Friday November 22, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Friday November 22, 2013 MYT 8:47:14 AM
Updated: Friday November 22, 2013 MYT 8:47:14 AM
Malaysian woman a slave in London for over 30 years
LONDON: A 69-year-old Malaysian
woman was rescued after being held captive as a domestic slave at a
house here for over 30 years.
Also rescued were a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old Briton
who had been held at a property in Lambeth from childhood, reported Sky
News, a UK-based news channel.
All three, who were not related and described by police as “highly traumatised”, were taken to a place of safety.
The news channel added that two people – a man and a woman, both 67 –
have been arrested as part of an investigation into slavery and
domestic servitude.
Meanwhile, AFP, quoting Scotland Yard, said police swooped in after
being contacted last month by Freedom Charity, which received a call
from a woman stating she was being held against her will.
The movement helps young people to understand forced marriage and honour-based violence.
Police said the woman had contacted the movement after watching a television documentary featuring the group’s work.
Freedom Charity founder Aneeta Prem told the British media that it was the 57-year-old Irish woman who phoned the organisation.
“I think all of them saw me on the news and made a decision because
of the name of the charity and because they had seen me on TV – that
gave them the courage to make that phone call,” said Prem, referring to
the SOS by the three women to her.
She described the victims’ treatment as “barbaric”. She also claimed to the Daily Mail newspaper that the women suffered physical and mental abuse.
“I don’t believe the neighbours knew anything about it at all. It was just an ordinary house in an ordinary street.
“They felt they were in massive danger. They did have rooms that
they could use but they were really restricted about what they could do
and could never leave the front door.
“It is absolutely unbelievable that people can ever find themselves
in this position. It is an amazing story,” Prem told the daily.
Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, from the Metropolitan police’s
human trafficking unit, told BBC: “We have seen some cases when people
have been held for 10 years, but we have never seen anything of this
magnitude before.”
He added that the women had controlled lives and spent most of their
time indoors, but they had some amount of controlled freedom.
Hyland also applauded the actions of Freedom Charity and were working in partnership to support the victims.
“We have launched an extensive investigation to establish the facts surrounding these very serious allegations.”
Officers said the two suspects, who were considered the “heads of
the family”, had been taken to a south London police station for
questioning. - Star Online, 22/11/2013, Malaysian woman a slave in London for over 30 years
London 'slaves' had been in political collective with captors, police say
Two of the three women allegedly held as slaves first met male suspect through shared political ideology, says Met
Police officers stand
outside flats in Brixton, south London, as detectives conduct
house-to-house inquires in the area where the three women were rescued.
Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
Two of the three women allegedly held for 30 years as slaves had lived in a political collective with their captors, police have disclosed.
Metropolitan police commander Steve Rodhouse told reporters that two of the alleged victims met the male suspect in London through a shared political ideology and began living together in a "collective".
The
address where the women lived with their alleged captors is understood
to be a three-storey block in Peckford Place, Stockwell, south London.
Police are conducting house-to-house inquiries in the area.
The
suspects, both 67, are of Indian and Tanzanian origin and came to the UK
in the 1960s, police said. They have been released on bail to a date in
January.
A 30-year-old British woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman
and a 69-year-old Malaysian woman were rescued from a house last month,
after one of the women called a support charity asking for help. All
three women are believed to have suffered emotional and physical abuse.
Scotland
Yard revealed that part of the agreement when the women were removed
from the address on 25 October was that police would not at that stage
take any action.
None of the women was reported missing after they
were rescued. Officers have recovered a birth certificate for the
30-year-old woman, who is believed to have lived her entire life in
servitude.
Rodhouse said police agreed to move at a slow pace to accommodate the fragile state of mind of the alleged victims.
"Part
of the agreement on 25 October when they were removed from the
suspects' address was that police would not at that stage take any
action. Since that date we have been working to gain their trust and
evidence. That came to fruition on 21 November, when we were in a
position to make arrests," he said.
Rodman said police were
examining the nature of the cult. "The people involved, the nature of
that collective and how it operated is all subject to our investigation
and we are slowly and painstakingly piecing together more information,"
he said.
"Somehow that collective came to an end and … somehow the
women ended up continuing to live with the suspects. How this resulted
in the women living in this way for over 30 years is what are seeking to
establish, but we believe emotional and physical abuse has been a
feature of all the victims' lives."
The 30-year-old woman's birth certificate was the only the official documentation that police have recovered.
"We
believe she has lived with the suspects and the other victims all her
life, but of course at this early stage we are still seeking out
evidence," Rodman said. - Guardian, 23/11/2013, London 'slaves' had been in political collective with captors, police say
More info sought on rescued Malaysian kept as slave in London
by tashny sukumaran AND neville spykerman
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian
Government is liaising with British authorities on the rescue of a
69-year-old Malaysian woman who was kept as a slave with two others
for 30 years in London’s Lambeth district.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said Wisma Putra was seeking details.
“We don’t have many details now. We will disclose more information as we get it,” he said when contacted yesterday.
The Malaysian High Commission in London has also offered to help British police in its investigations.
An official said the high commission had contacted Freedom Charity and British police.
“We are still waiting and ready to extend any help required,” he added in a telephone interview.
The official said the high commission had only found out about the matter via press reports.
“We have yet to meet or speak to the woman,’’ he said, adding that there was no information on where she
was being kept.
Details regarding the case continue to be sparse, with British police being tightlipped on the rescue of the three women.
The Malaysian woman, who has not been identified, was rescued along with a 30-year-old British woman and 57-year-old Irish woman on Oct 25.
The rescued women are all “highly traumatised” and are currently being looked after in a safe location. The address of the house where the crime took place is still unknown.
The Metropolitan Police arrested their two alleged captors on Thursday morning in connection with an investigation.
The two, both aged 67, have been granted bail until a date in January. According to a statement from the police, they are “not British nationals”.
The three were freed after one of the captives called Freedom Charity, an NGO, on Oct 18.
According to British news reports, Aneeta Prem, founder of the Freedom Charity, met the three women on
Thursday.
At a press conference yesterday evening, Metropolitan Police revealed that the three women had been beaten.
According to British media reports, the victims were physically abused and emotionally controlled in the “complicated and disturbing” slavery case.
The police were quoted as saying that they were looking for “invisible handcuffs used to manipulate the three women.”
The police also said that there was no evidence that the victims had been trafficked.
The two suspects were also charged with immigration-related offences, and were arrested in the 1970s for unspecified reasons.
Police spent 12 hours searching the property and removed 55 bags of evidence and 2,500 exhibits. Star, 23/11/2013, More info sought on rescued Malaysian kept as slave in London
“We don’t have many details now. We will disclose more information as we get it,” he said when contacted yesterday.
The Malaysian High Commission in London has also offered to help British police in its investigations.
An official said the high commission had contacted Freedom Charity and British police.
“We are still waiting and ready to extend any help required,” he added in a telephone interview.
The official said the high commission had only found out about the matter via press reports.
“We have yet to meet or speak to the woman,’’ he said, adding that there was no information on where she
was being kept.
Details regarding the case continue to be sparse, with British police being tightlipped on the rescue of the three women.
The Malaysian woman, who has not been identified, was rescued along with a 30-year-old British woman and 57-year-old Irish woman on Oct 25.
The rescued women are all “highly traumatised” and are currently being looked after in a safe location. The address of the house where the crime took place is still unknown.
The Metropolitan Police arrested their two alleged captors on Thursday morning in connection with an investigation.
The two, both aged 67, have been granted bail until a date in January. According to a statement from the police, they are “not British nationals”.
The three were freed after one of the captives called Freedom Charity, an NGO, on Oct 18.
According to British news reports, Aneeta Prem, founder of the Freedom Charity, met the three women on
Thursday.
At a press conference yesterday evening, Metropolitan Police revealed that the three women had been beaten.
According to British media reports, the victims were physically abused and emotionally controlled in the “complicated and disturbing” slavery case.
The police were quoted as saying that they were looking for “invisible handcuffs used to manipulate the three women.”
The police also said that there was no evidence that the victims had been trafficked.
The two suspects were also charged with immigration-related offences, and were arrested in the 1970s for unspecified reasons.
Police spent 12 hours searching the property and removed 55 bags of evidence and 2,500 exhibits. Star, 23/11/2013, More info sought on rescued Malaysian kept as slave in London
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment