Thursday, September 13, 2012

Higher salaries and qualifications are expected to attract highly-trained individuals to the profession.



THE Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, which outlined 11 shifts, will be implemented in three "waves", with the results to be assessed in 2015, 2020 and 2025, said Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He said an annual report on the progress of the reforms would be published.
Wave 1 (2012-2015) will focus on efforts to turn around the system by supporting teachers and focusing on core skills, Wave 2 (2016-2020) on accelerating system improvements and Wave 3 (2021-2025) on moving towards excellence with increased operational flexibility.
Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, said every ministry official, especially those at the top levels of management, would have their own Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to gauge their performance.
"These KPIs will be extended all the way down to the school level to ensure the goals are reached consistently at every point.
"The ministry will also create an education delivery unit to drive the plan forward, monitor results, liaise with stakeholders and compile continuous feedback."
The blueprint was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre yesterday.
"The unit staff will be talented and experienced individuals from the public and private sectors," said Muhyiddin.
The reforms, he said, were aimed at achieving five system aspirations:
ACCESS: Ensuring universal access and full enrolment of all children, from preschool right through to upper secondary school level (Form 5), by 2020;
QUALITY: The aspiration is for Malaysia to be in the top third of countries in terms of performance in international assessments as measured in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA);
EQUITY: Halving the current urban-rural, socio-economic and gender achievement gaps by 2020;
UNITY: An education system that gives children shared values and experiences by embracing diversity; and,
EFFICIENCY: A system which maximises student outcomes within the current budget.
The transformation will also focus on six student attributes: knowledge, thinking skills, leadership, bilingual proficiency, ethics and national identity.
Key initiatives include expanding the Linus (literacy and numeracy screening) programme to include English language literacy and introducing a common Bahasa Malaysia curriculum at the primary level with the aim of abolishing remove classes by 2017.
Both the primary and secondary school curricula will be extensively reworked to ensure students will learn not only to memorise knowledge but also to apply it to new and unfamiliar contexts.
Vocational education will be given a greater focus while new evaluation frameworks will be put in place to weed out under-performing teachers and reward those who produce excellent results.
Higher salaries and qualifications are expected to attract highly-trained individuals to the profession.
The blueprint also includes structural reforms which will drastically reduce the burden on the Education Ministry's central watchdogs in favour of district level officers, who will take on a greater role in overseeing the performance of schools within their jurisdiction.
It also calls for greater engagement with parents and the private sector to foster a broader learning environment.
The blueprint was prepared following feedback from a total of 12,000 participants nationwide.
The ministry also received 156 recommendations from various organisations as well as input from studies conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the World Bank and public higher learning institutions.
Malaysia devotes 16 per cent of its gross domestic product to education development annually, one of the highest in the world.

Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan (Muat Turun)


Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan (Muat Turun)


Naturally, stakeholders from parents and the community to the private sector as well as state education departments should have a say as well as a role in raising the bar for the country’s education system.
A worrying development is the growing homogenous learning environments with the mushrooming of private and international schools in addition to existing vernacular and agama schools. Thus, programmes that foster national unity are likely to get much-needed attention.
Another concern is the gender achievement gap, as shown by the fact that 70% of the country’s undergraduates are females. Questions are being asked as to why boys are lagging so far behind in school.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Penyeludupan organ


Definisi Mengikut Perundangan Jenayah Pemerdagangan Orang

Negara Sumber
Negara di mana orang yang didagangkan itu berasal. Ia menjadi tumpuan sindiket untuk mencari individu atau kumpulan manusia yang akan menjadi mangsa mereka.

Negara Destinasi
Negara penerima atau Negara yang dituju oleh sindiket untuk membawa mangsa mereka.

Negara Transit
Negara yang digunakan sebagai laluan oleh sindiket untuk membawa mangsa
mereka sebelum tiba ke negara destinasi. Ia sama ada menggunakan jalan darat,
laut mahupun udara.

Apakah Kaedah Atau Laluan Yang Digunakan?

 Udara
 laut
 darat


3 Elemen Dalam Pemerdagangan Orang

a)Aktiviti

 Perekrutan
 Pengangkutan
 Pemindahan
 Perlindungan
 Penerimaan

b)Cara

 Ancaman
 Paksaan/Kekerasan
 Pemelarian
 Perdayaan
 Pemalsuan Dokumen
 Penculikan
 Penipuan
 Penyalahgunaan Kuasa
 Memberi/Menerima
 Bayaran

c)Tujuan

 Perhambaan
 Pengabdian
 Pemindahan Organ
 Kerja/Perkhidmatan Paksa

sumber: 
http://gm-ukm.blogspot.com Eksploitasi Seks/Pelacur

Malaysia

The Situation
Malaysia is a destination, and to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to conditions of forced labor, and women and children subjected to sex trafficking.  
Source
A small number of Malaysian citizens are reportedly trafficked internally and abroad to Singapore, China, and Japan for commercial sexual exploitation. Malaysians from rural and indigenous communities tend to be more vulnerable to trafficking.1
Destination
The overwhelming majority of trafficking victims are among the two million documented and 1.9 million undocumented foreign workers in Malaysia from various countries including Indonesia, Nepal, India, Thailand, China, the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Many victims migrate willingly to Malaysia seeking employment opportunities in plantations, construction sites, textile factories, and as domestic workers but subsequently encounter forced labor or debt bondage at the hands of their employers, employment agents, or informal labor recruiters. While many of Malaysia’s trafficking offenders are individual business people, large organized crime syndicates are also behind trafficking.2 
A significant number of young foreign women are recruited for work in Malaysian restaurants and hotels, some of whom migrate through the use of “Guest Relations Officer” visas, but subsequently are coerced into Malaysia’s commercial sex trade.3
Domestic workers are particularly vulnerable. Local NGOs estimate that for every domestic servant legally employed in Malaysia there is one working in the country illegally and many may be trafficked.  
Ninety percent of these domestic servants are from Indonesia. This is concerning, as a 2006 MOU between Indonesia and Malaysia allows for Malaysian employers to confiscate passports of domestic employees, which is widely recognized as increasing a migrant’s vulnerability.4 
Internal Trafficking
Statelessness, a recognized human trafficking vulnerability factor, remains an issue in Malaysia. Citizenship is derived from one's parents; however, many children are stateless because the government refuses to register their birth due to inadequate proof of their parents' marriage. Interfaith marriages are also not recognized by the government which sometimes results in undocumented, de facto stateless children. One NGO estimates that the number of stateless persons ranges from several thousand to as many as 30,000. Without birth certificates, government officials deny stateless persons access to education, health care, and the right to own property.5 This puts them at risk of seeking unofficial employment opportunities, thus putting these people at risk of trafficking. 
The Malaysian Government
The Malaysian Government was placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year in the 2011 U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report for not fully complying with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. However, the US Government recognizes that the Malaysian Government is making significant efforts to do so. 
The government has increased the number of convictions obtained under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act during 2010 and continues public awareness efforts on trafficking. However, it has not effectively investigated and prosecuted labor trafficking cases, has failed to address problems of government complicity in trafficking, and lacks provision of effective victim care and counseling by authorities. There remain many serious concerns regarding trafficking in Malaysia, including the detention of trafficking victims in government facilities.6 
ProsecutionMalaysian law prohibits all forms of human trafficking through its Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which was amended in November 2010 to broaden the definition of trafficking to include all actions involved in acquiring or maintaining the labor or services of a person through coercion.7 
Authorities reported initiating 174 charges against 51 individuals under the anti-trafficking law in 2010. The government convicted 11 sex trafficking offenders and three individuals involved in labor trafficking, sentencing them to three to eight years’ imprisonment; this is compared to seven trafficking offenders convicted during the previous year. The government also reported that 141 trafficking cases remain pending in Malaysian courts.8 
The acquittal rate of alleged trafficking offenders was 68 percent during 2010, a rate attributed by observers to the lack of adequate victim-witness protection, victim assistance incentives, and poor judicial training on human trafficking.9
NGOs have reported that the police often fail or refuse to investigate complaints of confiscation of passports and travel documents or withholding of wages – especially with regards to domestic workers – as possible trafficking offenses. The government did not report in 2010 any criminal prosecutions of employers who subjected workers to conditions of forced labor or labor recruiters who used deceptive practices and debt bondage to compel migrant workers into involuntary servitude. Nor were any government officials convicted of trafficking-related complicity in 2010, even though there are reports of collusion between police and trafficking offenders.10
Protection
Victim protection efforts remain inadequate in Malaysia. Victims identified by Malaysian authorities are adjudicated under a “protective order” that triggers their forcible detention in “shelters,” where some are isolated, unable to work or earn income, and have little or no access to legal or psychological assistance provided by the government or NGOs.11
Furthermore, the government treats victims of trafficking as illegal aliens and turns them over to immigration authorities for deportation after they provide evidence to prosecutors, usually after a 90-day stay at a trafficking in persons “shelter.” While the government reports that it encourages victims to assist in the prosecution of their traffickers, it does not make available any alternatives to repatriation for victims who may face harm or retribution upon return to their home country. Nor does it provide any incentives for victim cooperation. In fact, during trial proceedings, authorities often do not make adequate efforts to separate victims from their traffickers, which may result in threats to the victims and their families if they cooperate with police and prosecutors.12
PreventionThe November 2010, amendments to the anti-trafficking law included the Labor Department within the Ministry of Human Resources as an enforcement agency. The Ministry has since reported that it now requires foreign domestic workers and their employers to attend a compulsory half-day seminar on workers’ rights and that a portion of a domestic worker’s salary must be placed into a bank account in the employee’s name in order to provide a record of payment.13 
The Malaysian Home Ministry reported investigating the 277 outsourcing companies that recruit foreign workers into Malaysia and placed 42 on a watchlist for engaging in suspicious activities. The Women’s Ministry continues to produce pamphlets about indicators of trafficking, which are distributed at border checkpoints. The government also continues to implement an anti-trafficking public awareness campaign in print media, on the radio, and on television.14
However, international organizations and NGOs report that the lack of understanding of human trafficking by many Malaysian front-line officers, such as police and immigration officers, continue to hinder the identification and proper investigation of trafficking cases and identification and assistance to trafficking victims.15
International CooperationThe Indonesian Government has been negotiating with the Malaysian Government to amend the 2006 MOU which allows employers to confiscate passports from migrant workers. However, talks were stalled in 2010 reportedly due to an impasse on the issue of a minimum wage and a weekly day off, which the government of Indonesia is demanding for domestic workers.16
RecommendationsThe U.S. Department of State recommends that the Malay Government enact the following measures in its 2011 TIP Report: 
  • Increase law enforcement actions under the anti-trafficking law, particularly labor trafficking cases;
  • Apply stringent criminal penalties to those involved in fraudulent labor recruitment or forced labor;
  • Increase efforts to prosecute and convict public officials who profit from or are involved in trafficking, or who exploit victims; 
  • Develop and implement procedures to identify labor trafficking victims among vulnerable groups such as migrant workers and refer them to available protection services; 
  • Improve victim protection in government facilities by providing victims legal assistance, and providing effective counseling and care to the victims of trafficking; 
  • Develop and implement mechanisms to allow adult foreign trafficking victims to travel, work, and reside outside of government shelters; 
  • Provide legal alternatives to the removal of trafficking victims to countries in which they would face retribution or hardship; ensure that victims of trafficking are not threatened or punished for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked; 
  • Make greater efforts to educate migrant workers on their rights, legal recourses available, and how to seek remedies against traffickers or employers who fail to meet their legal obligations; 
  • Re-negotiate MOUs with source countries to incorporate victim protection and remove authorizations for employers to confiscate passports or travel documents; 
  • Continue to train officials on the effective handling of sex and labor trafficking cases, with a particular emphasis on victim protection and the identification of labor trafficking victims; 
  • Make efforts to reduce the demand for both sex and labor trafficking; and 
  • Expand the anti-trafficking awareness campaign to encompass both labor and sex trafficking.17
 _______________________

Penyeludupan organ


Definisi Mengikut Perundangan Jenayah Pemerdagangan Orang

Negara Sumber
Negara di mana orang yang didagangkan itu berasal. Ia menjadi tumpuan sindiket untuk mencari individu atau kumpulan manusia yang akan menjadi mangsa mereka.

Negara Destinasi
Negara penerima atau Negara yang dituju oleh sindiket untuk membawa mangsa mereka.

Negara Transit
Negara yang digunakan sebagai laluan oleh sindiket untuk membawa mangsa
mereka sebelum tiba ke negara destinasi. Ia sama ada menggunakan jalan darat,
laut mahupun udara.

Apakah Kaedah Atau Laluan Yang Digunakan?

 Udara
 laut
 darat


3 Elemen Dalam Pemerdagangan Orang

a)Aktiviti

 Perekrutan
 Pengangkutan
 Pemindahan
 Perlindungan
 Penerimaan

b)Cara

 Ancaman
 Paksaan/Kekerasan
 Pemelarian
 Perdayaan
 Pemalsuan Dokumen
 Penculikan
 Penipuan
 Penyalahgunaan Kuasa
 Memberi/Menerima
 Bayaran

c)Tujuan

 Perhambaan
 Pengabdian
 Pemindahan Organ
 Kerja/Perkhidmatan Paksa

sumber: 
http://gm-ukm.blogspot.com Eksploitasi Seks/Pelacur

Malaysia

The Situation
Malaysia is a destination, and to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to conditions of forced labor, and women and children subjected to sex trafficking.  
Source
A small number of Malaysian citizens are reportedly trafficked internally and abroad to Singapore, China, and Japan for commercial sexual exploitation. Malaysians from rural and indigenous communities tend to be more vulnerable to trafficking.1
Destination
The overwhelming majority of trafficking victims are among the two million documented and 1.9 million undocumented foreign workers in Malaysia from various countries including Indonesia, Nepal, India, Thailand, China, the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Many victims migrate willingly to Malaysia seeking employment opportunities in plantations, construction sites, textile factories, and as domestic workers but subsequently encounter forced labor or debt bondage at the hands of their employers, employment agents, or informal labor recruiters. While many of Malaysia’s trafficking offenders are individual business people, large organized crime syndicates are also behind trafficking.2 
A significant number of young foreign women are recruited for work in Malaysian restaurants and hotels, some of whom migrate through the use of “Guest Relations Officer” visas, but subsequently are coerced into Malaysia’s commercial sex trade.3
Domestic workers are particularly vulnerable. Local NGOs estimate that for every domestic servant legally employed in Malaysia there is one working in the country illegally and many may be trafficked.  
Ninety percent of these domestic servants are from Indonesia. This is concerning, as a 2006 MOU between Indonesia and Malaysia allows for Malaysian employers to confiscate passports of domestic employees, which is widely recognized as increasing a migrant’s vulnerability.4 
Internal Trafficking
Statelessness, a recognized human trafficking vulnerability factor, remains an issue in Malaysia. Citizenship is derived from one's parents; however, many children are stateless because the government refuses to register their birth due to inadequate proof of their parents' marriage. Interfaith marriages are also not recognized by the government which sometimes results in undocumented, de facto stateless children. One NGO estimates that the number of stateless persons ranges from several thousand to as many as 30,000. Without birth certificates, government officials deny stateless persons access to education, health care, and the right to own property.5 This puts them at risk of seeking unofficial employment opportunities, thus putting these people at risk of trafficking. 
The Malaysian Government
The Malaysian Government was placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year in the 2011 U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report for not fully complying with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. However, the US Government recognizes that the Malaysian Government is making significant efforts to do so. 
The government has increased the number of convictions obtained under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act during 2010 and continues public awareness efforts on trafficking. However, it has not effectively investigated and prosecuted labor trafficking cases, has failed to address problems of government complicity in trafficking, and lacks provision of effective victim care and counseling by authorities. There remain many serious concerns regarding trafficking in Malaysia, including the detention of trafficking victims in government facilities.6 
ProsecutionMalaysian law prohibits all forms of human trafficking through its Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which was amended in November 2010 to broaden the definition of trafficking to include all actions involved in acquiring or maintaining the labor or services of a person through coercion.7 
Authorities reported initiating 174 charges against 51 individuals under the anti-trafficking law in 2010. The government convicted 11 sex trafficking offenders and three individuals involved in labor trafficking, sentencing them to three to eight years’ imprisonment; this is compared to seven trafficking offenders convicted during the previous year. The government also reported that 141 trafficking cases remain pending in Malaysian courts.8 
The acquittal rate of alleged trafficking offenders was 68 percent during 2010, a rate attributed by observers to the lack of adequate victim-witness protection, victim assistance incentives, and poor judicial training on human trafficking.9
NGOs have reported that the police often fail or refuse to investigate complaints of confiscation of passports and travel documents or withholding of wages – especially with regards to domestic workers – as possible trafficking offenses. The government did not report in 2010 any criminal prosecutions of employers who subjected workers to conditions of forced labor or labor recruiters who used deceptive practices and debt bondage to compel migrant workers into involuntary servitude. Nor were any government officials convicted of trafficking-related complicity in 2010, even though there are reports of collusion between police and trafficking offenders.10
Protection
Victim protection efforts remain inadequate in Malaysia. Victims identified by Malaysian authorities are adjudicated under a “protective order” that triggers their forcible detention in “shelters,” where some are isolated, unable to work or earn income, and have little or no access to legal or psychological assistance provided by the government or NGOs.11
Furthermore, the government treats victims of trafficking as illegal aliens and turns them over to immigration authorities for deportation after they provide evidence to prosecutors, usually after a 90-day stay at a trafficking in persons “shelter.” While the government reports that it encourages victims to assist in the prosecution of their traffickers, it does not make available any alternatives to repatriation for victims who may face harm or retribution upon return to their home country. Nor does it provide any incentives for victim cooperation. In fact, during trial proceedings, authorities often do not make adequate efforts to separate victims from their traffickers, which may result in threats to the victims and their families if they cooperate with police and prosecutors.12
PreventionThe November 2010, amendments to the anti-trafficking law included the Labor Department within the Ministry of Human Resources as an enforcement agency. The Ministry has since reported that it now requires foreign domestic workers and their employers to attend a compulsory half-day seminar on workers’ rights and that a portion of a domestic worker’s salary must be placed into a bank account in the employee’s name in order to provide a record of payment.13 
The Malaysian Home Ministry reported investigating the 277 outsourcing companies that recruit foreign workers into Malaysia and placed 42 on a watchlist for engaging in suspicious activities. The Women’s Ministry continues to produce pamphlets about indicators of trafficking, which are distributed at border checkpoints. The government also continues to implement an anti-trafficking public awareness campaign in print media, on the radio, and on television.14
However, international organizations and NGOs report that the lack of understanding of human trafficking by many Malaysian front-line officers, such as police and immigration officers, continue to hinder the identification and proper investigation of trafficking cases and identification and assistance to trafficking victims.15
International CooperationThe Indonesian Government has been negotiating with the Malaysian Government to amend the 2006 MOU which allows employers to confiscate passports from migrant workers. However, talks were stalled in 2010 reportedly due to an impasse on the issue of a minimum wage and a weekly day off, which the government of Indonesia is demanding for domestic workers.16
RecommendationsThe U.S. Department of State recommends that the Malay Government enact the following measures in its 2011 TIP Report: 
  • Increase law enforcement actions under the anti-trafficking law, particularly labor trafficking cases;
  • Apply stringent criminal penalties to those involved in fraudulent labor recruitment or forced labor;
  • Increase efforts to prosecute and convict public officials who profit from or are involved in trafficking, or who exploit victims; 
  • Develop and implement procedures to identify labor trafficking victims among vulnerable groups such as migrant workers and refer them to available protection services; 
  • Improve victim protection in government facilities by providing victims legal assistance, and providing effective counseling and care to the victims of trafficking; 
  • Develop and implement mechanisms to allow adult foreign trafficking victims to travel, work, and reside outside of government shelters; 
  • Provide legal alternatives to the removal of trafficking victims to countries in which they would face retribution or hardship; ensure that victims of trafficking are not threatened or punished for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked; 
  • Make greater efforts to educate migrant workers on their rights, legal recourses available, and how to seek remedies against traffickers or employers who fail to meet their legal obligations; 
  • Re-negotiate MOUs with source countries to incorporate victim protection and remove authorizations for employers to confiscate passports or travel documents; 
  • Continue to train officials on the effective handling of sex and labor trafficking cases, with a particular emphasis on victim protection and the identification of labor trafficking victims; 
  • Make efforts to reduce the demand for both sex and labor trafficking; and 
  • Expand the anti-trafficking awareness campaign to encompass both labor and sex trafficking.17
 _______________________

Penyeludupan organ


Definisi Mengikut Perundangan Jenayah Pemerdagangan Orang

Negara Sumber
Negara di mana orang yang didagangkan itu berasal. Ia menjadi tumpuan sindiket untuk mencari individu atau kumpulan manusia yang akan menjadi mangsa mereka.

Negara Destinasi
Negara penerima atau Negara yang dituju oleh sindiket untuk membawa mangsa mereka.

Negara Transit
Negara yang digunakan sebagai laluan oleh sindiket untuk membawa mangsa
mereka sebelum tiba ke negara destinasi. Ia sama ada menggunakan jalan darat,
laut mahupun udara.

Apakah Kaedah Atau Laluan Yang Digunakan?

 Udara
 laut
 darat


3 Elemen Dalam Pemerdagangan Orang

a)Aktiviti

 Perekrutan
 Pengangkutan
 Pemindahan
 Perlindungan
 Penerimaan

b)Cara

 Ancaman
 Paksaan/Kekerasan
 Pemelarian
 Perdayaan
 Pemalsuan Dokumen
 Penculikan
 Penipuan
 Penyalahgunaan Kuasa
 Memberi/Menerima
 Bayaran

c)Tujuan

 Perhambaan
 Pengabdian
 Pemindahan Organ
 Kerja/Perkhidmatan Paksa

sumber: 
http://gm-ukm.blogspot.com Eksploitasi Seks/Pelacur

Malaysia

The Situation
Malaysia is a destination, and to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to conditions of forced labor, and women and children subjected to sex trafficking.  
Source
A small number of Malaysian citizens are reportedly trafficked internally and abroad to Singapore, China, and Japan for commercial sexual exploitation. Malaysians from rural and indigenous communities tend to be more vulnerable to trafficking.1
Destination
The overwhelming majority of trafficking victims are among the two million documented and 1.9 million undocumented foreign workers in Malaysia from various countries including Indonesia, Nepal, India, Thailand, China, the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Many victims migrate willingly to Malaysia seeking employment opportunities in plantations, construction sites, textile factories, and as domestic workers but subsequently encounter forced labor or debt bondage at the hands of their employers, employment agents, or informal labor recruiters. While many of Malaysia’s trafficking offenders are individual business people, large organized crime syndicates are also behind trafficking.2 
A significant number of young foreign women are recruited for work in Malaysian restaurants and hotels, some of whom migrate through the use of “Guest Relations Officer” visas, but subsequently are coerced into Malaysia’s commercial sex trade.3
Domestic workers are particularly vulnerable. Local NGOs estimate that for every domestic servant legally employed in Malaysia there is one working in the country illegally and many may be trafficked.  
Ninety percent of these domestic servants are from Indonesia. This is concerning, as a 2006 MOU between Indonesia and Malaysia allows for Malaysian employers to confiscate passports of domestic employees, which is widely recognized as increasing a migrant’s vulnerability.4 
Internal Trafficking
Statelessness, a recognized human trafficking vulnerability factor, remains an issue in Malaysia. Citizenship is derived from one's parents; however, many children are stateless because the government refuses to register their birth due to inadequate proof of their parents' marriage. Interfaith marriages are also not recognized by the government which sometimes results in undocumented, de facto stateless children. One NGO estimates that the number of stateless persons ranges from several thousand to as many as 30,000. Without birth certificates, government officials deny stateless persons access to education, health care, and the right to own property.5 This puts them at risk of seeking unofficial employment opportunities, thus putting these people at risk of trafficking. 
The Malaysian Government
The Malaysian Government was placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year in the 2011 U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report for not fully complying with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. However, the US Government recognizes that the Malaysian Government is making significant efforts to do so. 
The government has increased the number of convictions obtained under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act during 2010 and continues public awareness efforts on trafficking. However, it has not effectively investigated and prosecuted labor trafficking cases, has failed to address problems of government complicity in trafficking, and lacks provision of effective victim care and counseling by authorities. There remain many serious concerns regarding trafficking in Malaysia, including the detention of trafficking victims in government facilities.6 
ProsecutionMalaysian law prohibits all forms of human trafficking through its Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which was amended in November 2010 to broaden the definition of trafficking to include all actions involved in acquiring or maintaining the labor or services of a person through coercion.7 
Authorities reported initiating 174 charges against 51 individuals under the anti-trafficking law in 2010. The government convicted 11 sex trafficking offenders and three individuals involved in labor trafficking, sentencing them to three to eight years’ imprisonment; this is compared to seven trafficking offenders convicted during the previous year. The government also reported that 141 trafficking cases remain pending in Malaysian courts.8 
The acquittal rate of alleged trafficking offenders was 68 percent during 2010, a rate attributed by observers to the lack of adequate victim-witness protection, victim assistance incentives, and poor judicial training on human trafficking.9
NGOs have reported that the police often fail or refuse to investigate complaints of confiscation of passports and travel documents or withholding of wages – especially with regards to domestic workers – as possible trafficking offenses. The government did not report in 2010 any criminal prosecutions of employers who subjected workers to conditions of forced labor or labor recruiters who used deceptive practices and debt bondage to compel migrant workers into involuntary servitude. Nor were any government officials convicted of trafficking-related complicity in 2010, even though there are reports of collusion between police and trafficking offenders.10
Protection
Victim protection efforts remain inadequate in Malaysia. Victims identified by Malaysian authorities are adjudicated under a “protective order” that triggers their forcible detention in “shelters,” where some are isolated, unable to work or earn income, and have little or no access to legal or psychological assistance provided by the government or NGOs.11
Furthermore, the government treats victims of trafficking as illegal aliens and turns them over to immigration authorities for deportation after they provide evidence to prosecutors, usually after a 90-day stay at a trafficking in persons “shelter.” While the government reports that it encourages victims to assist in the prosecution of their traffickers, it does not make available any alternatives to repatriation for victims who may face harm or retribution upon return to their home country. Nor does it provide any incentives for victim cooperation. In fact, during trial proceedings, authorities often do not make adequate efforts to separate victims from their traffickers, which may result in threats to the victims and their families if they cooperate with police and prosecutors.12
PreventionThe November 2010, amendments to the anti-trafficking law included the Labor Department within the Ministry of Human Resources as an enforcement agency. The Ministry has since reported that it now requires foreign domestic workers and their employers to attend a compulsory half-day seminar on workers’ rights and that a portion of a domestic worker’s salary must be placed into a bank account in the employee’s name in order to provide a record of payment.13 
The Malaysian Home Ministry reported investigating the 277 outsourcing companies that recruit foreign workers into Malaysia and placed 42 on a watchlist for engaging in suspicious activities. The Women’s Ministry continues to produce pamphlets about indicators of trafficking, which are distributed at border checkpoints. The government also continues to implement an anti-trafficking public awareness campaign in print media, on the radio, and on television.14
However, international organizations and NGOs report that the lack of understanding of human trafficking by many Malaysian front-line officers, such as police and immigration officers, continue to hinder the identification and proper investigation of trafficking cases and identification and assistance to trafficking victims.15
International CooperationThe Indonesian Government has been negotiating with the Malaysian Government to amend the 2006 MOU which allows employers to confiscate passports from migrant workers. However, talks were stalled in 2010 reportedly due to an impasse on the issue of a minimum wage and a weekly day off, which the government of Indonesia is demanding for domestic workers.16
RecommendationsThe U.S. Department of State recommends that the Malay Government enact the following measures in its 2011 TIP Report: 
  • Increase law enforcement actions under the anti-trafficking law, particularly labor trafficking cases;
  • Apply stringent criminal penalties to those involved in fraudulent labor recruitment or forced labor;
  • Increase efforts to prosecute and convict public officials who profit from or are involved in trafficking, or who exploit victims; 
  • Develop and implement procedures to identify labor trafficking victims among vulnerable groups such as migrant workers and refer them to available protection services; 
  • Improve victim protection in government facilities by providing victims legal assistance, and providing effective counseling and care to the victims of trafficking; 
  • Develop and implement mechanisms to allow adult foreign trafficking victims to travel, work, and reside outside of government shelters; 
  • Provide legal alternatives to the removal of trafficking victims to countries in which they would face retribution or hardship; ensure that victims of trafficking are not threatened or punished for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked; 
  • Make greater efforts to educate migrant workers on their rights, legal recourses available, and how to seek remedies against traffickers or employers who fail to meet their legal obligations; 
  • Re-negotiate MOUs with source countries to incorporate victim protection and remove authorizations for employers to confiscate passports or travel documents; 
  • Continue to train officials on the effective handling of sex and labor trafficking cases, with a particular emphasis on victim protection and the identification of labor trafficking victims; 
  • Make efforts to reduce the demand for both sex and labor trafficking; and 
  • Expand the anti-trafficking awareness campaign to encompass both labor and sex trafficking.17
 _______________________

Pre-university blog