RI women detained in Malaysia

RI women detained in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's immigration department will focus its enforcement operations on entertainment centers this year to curb rising prostitution by foreign women, a report said Saturday.

Director-general Aseh Che Mat, quoted by the official Bernama news agency, said foreign prostitutes were found in karaoke lounges, pubs, massage parlors and luxury apartments in the Klang Valley around the capital.

He said officers detained 25 Indonesian women suspected of selling sexual favors in three raids in the Balakong and Cheras areas Friday night. A Malaysian man believed to be harboring them was also detained.

Aseh said the women aged between 19 and 25 were mostly brought in as tourists by syndicates and then "sold" to entertainment center operators for between 2,500 ringgit (US$658 dollars) and 5,000 ringgit. Immigration officers also seized several forged immigration stamps believed to have been used to dupe the women.

The women were being detained pending further action while the man would be charged with immigration offenses.

Aseh said officers had raided seven entertainment centers and luxury apartments in the last two weeks of 1999 and detained 103 foreign women. "We feel responsible for protecting these women who are victims of vice syndicates," he said.