KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA - Sabah has called for an investigation into reports that youths hired by employment agents to work in Singapore were forced to do menial work and the girls turned into sex slaves.

State Youth and Sports Minister Peter Pang En Yin said he would write to the Malaysian High Commision in Singapore to seek cooperation from relevant authorities in the island republic on the matter.

The Daily Express, a daily newspaper in Sabah, had on July 14 reported the ordeal of a 21-year-old Sabahan who was promised a job in the hotel sector, but ended up being forced to do hard labour and given only one meal a day.

The youth managed to escape and sneaked out to Johor Baru before returning home with the help of two Sabahans working in Johor.

The youth claimed that some 70 Sabahan youths, including about 20 girls, were facing similar predicament.
He claimed the girls were locked in apartments and would only be allowed to leave when "entertaining" clients arranged by their "employers".

Pang said priority was to rescue the Sabahans from the unscrupulous employers.

"I was told that most of them are from rural areas in Sabah and were easily tempted by promises of good paying jobs in Singapore.

"They should check the authenticity of the employment agents with the relevant authorities in the state before agreeing to the offers."

He also advised local youths to seek employment in the state.