By Julia Zappei, Associated Press writer

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – U.S. senators urged Malaysia to probe claims by refugees from Myanmar that Malaysian immigration officials handed them over to human traffickers on Malaysia’s border with Thailand.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations released a report Thursday that claimed illegal Myanmar migrants deported from Malaysia were often turned over to human traffickers and forced to work in brothels, fishing boats and restaurants in Thailand if they had no money to purchase their freedom.

The report was based on a yearlong review by committee staff who spoke to migrants from military-ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, and human rights activists.

Malaysian and Thai government officials could not immediately be reached fro comment.

Earlier this year, former Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar dismissed claims of human trafficking at the border as “wild allegations.” But National police chief Musa Hassan said earlier this month that Malaysian and Thai police and immigration officials were investigating the claims.

Many who flee persecution in Myanmar try to stay illegally in Malaysia, which does not recognize refugees and can arrest them, whip them as punishment then deport them.

According to the Senate committee report, “a few thousand” Myanmar migrants in recent years might have become victims of extortion and trafficking once they were deported to Malaysia’s northern border with Thailand.

“Upon arrival at the Malaysia-Thailand border, human traffickers reportedly take possession of the migrants,” the report said.

“Migrants state that those unable to pay (the traffickers) are turned over to human peddlers in Thailand, representing a variety of business interests ranging from fishing boats to brothels,” it added.

The report quoted one unidentified migrant as saying women “are sold at a brothel if they look good. If they are not beautiful, they might sell them at a restaurant or housekeeping job.”

It called on Malaysia to investigate and prosecute “the trafficking, selling and slavery of Burmese and other migrants.”

“The prospect that Burmese migrants, having fled the heavy hand of the Burmese junta, only to find themselves in harms’ way in Malaysia seemed beyond belief,” it said.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Najib Razak “should act on this U.S. Senate report to protect the rights of refugees and victims of human trafficking.”

The U.N. refugee agency has registered 47,600 refugees living in Malaysia as of the end of March, of whom 42,300 were from Myanmar.

Malaysian opposition politician Lim Kit Siang also urged the government to “respond with instant action” to the U.S. report, saying it is “not only most damaging to Malaysia’s international image but raises grave questions about Malaysia’s human rights commitment.”