Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the system – which was formulated by the home ministry’s information technology department – aims to compile all data related to human trafficking.

“We hope to compile all data sources, integrate and analyse them to give us a more holistic picture of human trafficking.

“This way, we can formulate more comprehensive policies and decisions to combat human trafficking,” he said.

Saifuddin also said there must be greater collaboration between government bodies, civil society and foreign diplomats to effectively combat human trafficking.

Mapo was established by the home ministry to coordinate the implementation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.

It is tasked with formulating policies and programmes to prevent and combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Malaysia.

In June, the US state department upgraded Malaysia to Tier 2 in its annual trafficking in persons report, a step higher than last year.

Countries in this tier are defined as not fully meeting the department’s minimum standards to eliminate human trafficking but are making significant efforts to come into compliance.

Migrant rights activist Andy Hall previously expressed surprise at the upgrade, stating that Malaysia’s systemic inability to meaningfully combat labour trafficking and ensure remediation of victims and accountability of perpetrators “does not deserve an upgrade”.