"Malaysia plans special court on human trafficking as cases soar," 15 January 2018

Malaysia is setting up a special court to tackle rising numbers of human trafficking cases, in a move welcomed by campaigners who said it would help deliver justice to victims.

The Southeast Asian nation relies heavily on foreign domestic workers as well as labourers from countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal for jobs shunned by locals including work on plantations and in construction.

...[A]dvocacy groups say many of the workers are victims of human trafficking and debt bondage...

...[T]he special court is expected to be set up as early as May in the central state of Selangor, with a dedicated judge to hear cases, before it is gradually rolled out in other parts of the country.

Malaysia's deputy premier Zahid Hamidi said authorities hoped the court would help expedite human trafficking cases and boost public awareness of the crime...

Kuala Lumpur-based group Tenaganita, which works with refugees and migrant workers, welcomed the project, saying trafficking victims have often reluctant to fight their case in court due to a lengthy legal process and a lack of support.

Alex Ong of ...Migrant Care cautioned that the move should not be done only to appease U.S. officials in order to get an upgrade on the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons report.

Malaysia has said it was hoping to achieve a Tier 1 rating on the report, after it was upgraded to Tier 2 last year from the Tier 2 Watch List in 2016.

Tier 2 means it was not fully complying with U.S. standards but was making significant efforts to do so.