The issue of labour exploitation has been given media coverage at local and international level, particularly in the oil palm plantation sector. It is one form of human trafficking which has been condemned by the international community. As a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO), this issue needs to be taken seriously. This study aims to examine the international labour standard and the Malaysian law relating to forced labor and trafficking in person by analysing the related legal framework using a doctrinal methodology and library based research as well as analysis of selected decided cases. Although Malaysia has local laws such as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (ATIPSOM) [Act 670] which covers aspects of exploitation and coercion,as well as Employment Act 1955 [Act 265]and Workers' Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act, 1990 [Act 446), however, there are allegations that there are lacuna in these laws which need to be improved in order to address the issue of labour exploitation or forced labor practices in Malaysia successfully. It may be concluded that since the terms of forced labor are not defined in any law in Malaysia it causes ambiguity and difficulties in the application and enforcement of law. Thus, it is very important to carefully understand the intended meaning of a term in the legislation to ensure the extent of labour exploitation or forced labor practice in the Malaysian context.

The paper aims to provide an overview of modern slavery and forced labour under international, Malaysian and Islamic law perspectives. It employs doctrinal methods which mainly focus on library-based research through legal analysis and review of past works, as well as the historical and explanatory method that help explain the views of commentators and scholars in international and Islamic law. It then connects ideas to understand the issue in the local context. This paper concludes that there is a lack of a clear definition of modern slavery universally, which makes it difficult to identify whether the exploitation of the workers, is amounting to merely a violation of rights or to some extent is amounting to slavery or forced labour or trafficking of persons as demarcated by either International law or the Malaysian law. Nevertheless, Islamic law has not given much emphasis on definition, rather it provides remedy and guidelines in protecting workers from oppression and slavery such as regulating the relationship between the employer and the worker according to the precise legal criteria to guarantee fulfilment of rights and non-aggression so that labour does not turn into a new arena of modern slavery.