A Sarawak Senior Minister says, ASEAN member countries must work together to counter the kidnapping threat posed by the Abu Sayyaf militant group.
Noting that the recent ASEAN summit had discussed the issue of human trafficking in the region, Tan Sri James Masing said the “human trading” by Abu Sayyaf was a worse problem which needed to be countered.
He said, in short, it’s not a Philippine or Malaysian problem but an Asian problem.
Masing said ransom money in the millions had made kidnapping a lucrative business, with the result that humans were “taken to be sold as goods in the market”.
He said the intrusion into Sabah followed by the beheading of a Malaysian hostage recently showed that the militant group had become bolder.
