4/2 Research on Malaysia

Issues in Malaysia

1. Disputes of land and maritime with Indonesia has been an issue for a while. All the way around Malaysia has had a variety of disputes over boundaries with other countries mainly in the straits between the coutnry. Violence in South Thailand has made Malaysia want to more closely monitor their border to prevent terrorist activities.

2. Human trafficking is also an issue in Malaysia. It is seen as a destination and a transition country for human trafficking. Immigrants that willingly come into the country are pushed into forced labor and debt bondage. Women and children are vulnerable the sex slave trade. Immigrants are extremely vulnerable and their children that are not given birth certificates since they have no actual records of them existing, it is easier for them to be taken and completely erased. 

3. Racism/discrimination is also an issue in Malaysia, as there are different cultures in Malaysia, but the active government is more biased to the majority, which is Malaysian Islamic. They recently banned the word "Allah" for anyone non-Muslim to use which has stirred conflict between Christians and Muslims in the area. Several churches and mosques have been desecrated, one church was even recently firebombed over the tensions.   
4. There is also an issue of children not being birth certificates, or ones stamped with "foreigner". Without a normal birth certificate these children are not able to attend government schools.These children are stateless, and there is no way to even prove they exist, let alone belong to Malaysia. This issue ties in the human trafficking issue as well as it is easier for these people to be taken and completely erased since there is no real record of their existence. 

5. Children in poverty is also an issue in Malaysia. In some places like Selangor the child poverty rate is only  2%, but is as high as 31% in Sabah, so there is a huge disparity between member states. Stateless children (no birth certificate/ foreigner stamp) are more likely to be victims of extreme poverty. 

6. HIV/AIDs in Malaysia is a fast growing epidemic there with 10 new infections everyday, all together 91,362 cases of HIV infections and12,943 AIDs related deaths from 1986 to 2010. 

7. Secondary education in Malasyia is not mandatory, thus only three quarters of secondary school aged children do not attend school. This presents a lot of risks for these children since illegal drugs and poverty are also an issue in the country. Sixty-five percent of a users of illegal drugs in the country did not complete secondary education. These children are also at a higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDs. 

In 1995 Malaysia did sign the Covention of the Right of the Child, so children are protected under that, which should ensure children the right to a birth certificate and public record of their existence, but this is still a prevalent issue. 

http://www.unicef.org/malaysia/17983_malaysia-adolescence.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/my.html

http://www.unicef.org/malaysia/aids.html

http://www.unicef.org/malaysia/campaigns_rights-issues.html

http://thediplomat.com/2014/02/old-malaysian-issues-are-new-again/