June 18, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: There will be a rise in transnational crimes if the severe global economic downturn predicted by United Nations economists comes true, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said yesterday.
He said when the economic outlook was grim, crimes such as terrorism, human trafficking, money laundering, cyber and commercial crimes would become rampant.
“Studies show that the increase in crime is related to economic conditions,” Syed Hamid said after opening the Eighth Asean Senior Officials Meeting On Transnational Crime (8th-SOMTC) here yesterday.
He said the government was monitoring the economy to ensure the crime rate stayed low.
“We have to focus on the increase in prices and the shortage of food. We have to overcome these problems.”
He cautioned that should any Asean country suffer from economic disaster, its crime problem will also spill over to neighbouring countries.
On combating human trafficking, Syed Hamid said this required the cooperation of all Asean countries as the region’s porous borders made enforcement difficult.
He, however, denied claims that Malaysia had become a favourite destination for human traffickers.
He said the SOMTC was a good platform for Asean nations to work towards combating transnational crime.
The three-day meeting held from Monday is organised by the Home Ministry with the support of the Asean Secretariat based in Jakarta.
Among the issues discussed in the closed-door meeting were trafficking in persons and counter terrorism and the drafting of a comprehensive plan to combat transnational crime among Asean countries.