CMNT_TITLE

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Malaysia (RATIFICATION: 2000)

Other comments on C182

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances. In response to its previous comments, the Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government in its report concerning the application in practice of sections 5 to 10 of the Sexual Offences against Children Act No. 792 of 2017 related to the use or procuring of children for the production of pornography. According to this data, from 2017 to 2021, a total of 26 cases were brought to justice under section 5 (making or production of child pornography), of which 22 cases were completed, two cases were dismissed and two cases are under investigation. With regard to section 7 (using a child under 18 years for child pornography), 11 cases were brought before the court, of which, nine were completed, one was dismissed and one case is under investigation. The Committee observes that the Government has not provided any information on the convictions and sanctions imposed by the court on the perpetrators for the offences under sections 5 and 7 of the Sexual Offences against Children Act No. 792 of 2017. The Committee therefore requests the Government to continue to provide information on the application in practice of sections 5 and 7 of the Sexual Offences against Children Act No. 792 of 2017, indicating the convictions and sanctions handed down by the court.

Article 7(2) Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. In its previous comments, the Committee took due note of the Government’s initiatives to improve access to education, including the Indigenous Education Programme which resulted in high enrolment rates at the primary and secondary education level as well as improved access to technical and vocational education. The Committee, however, notes from the 2019 report of the UNICEF–UNESCO Out of School Children Initiative (OOSCI) which undertook to compile comprehensive profiles of excluded children in Sabah where the labour force participation among children is the highest, that 23,560 or 6.3 per cent of primary school-age children do not attend school. Children most likely to be out-of-school or at risk of dropping out were often boys from rural areas of Bumiputera ethnicity or non-citizen children. In this regard, the Committee notes that according to the UNESCO statistics, 47,580 children and 165,855 adolescents were out of school in 2020. The Committee requests the Government to continue taking effective measures to ensure access to free basic education for all children, particularly boys from the ethnic community in Sabah and to provide information on the impact of the measures taken.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Street children, refugee and asylum-seeking children. In response to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (SBJK), an initiative to provide access to formal education for street children and abandoned children, has enrolled 150 children in 2020, 151 children in 2021, and 143 children 2022. It also notes that in 2021 a total of 3,621 children benefited from the 146 child activity centres, which provide rehabilitation programmes for children at risk and who are vulnerable to exploitation. The Government indicates that sensitization and awareness programmes are conducted regularly by child activity centres and child protection teams for communities and the public to provide a paradigm shift within society on various social issues including street children. In addition, the Federal Special Task Force for Sabah and Labuan carries out monthly operations throughout the state to rescue children living in the streets. The Government also states that undocumented street children who have been rescued are given shelter at the Rumah Perlindungan Ehsan in Kota Kinabalu and provided with assistance for identity documents, basic health needs, basic education programmes, life-skills activities and psychosocial counselling sessions.

The Committee notes from a report on Education in Malaysia published in October 2022 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that refugee children in Malaysia are denied access to the formal education system and thus obtain education through an informal parallel system of community-based learning centres. This report further indicates that of the 23,823 refugee children of school-going age, only 30 per cent are enrolled in community learning centres. It further notes from the Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material of January 2019 that the phenomena of sale of children and sexual exploitation is vast and real in Malaysia against the backdrop of stateless, asylum seeking and refugee population. According to the UNHCR’s estimate, as of August 2018, 42,620 refugee (majority from Myanmar) and asylum-seeking children below the age of 18 were registered with the UNHCR (A/HRC/40/51/Add.3, paragraphs 6 and 23). Considering that street children, refugee and asylum-seeking children are at greater risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour, particularly by providing them with access to free basic education. The Committee further requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of children in vulnerable situations, who have been receiving education at the SBJK and at the community learning centres as well as the number of children who have benefited from the rehabilitation programmes of the child activity centres.

Article 8. International cooperation and assistance. Regional cooperation. In response to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that it continues to engage and collaborate with its neighbouring countries, in particular Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia on issues related to trafficking in persons through existing platforms such as Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC), ASEAN-ACT ((ASEAN-Australia Counter Trafficking), Bali Process and otherwise. The Government indicates that it envisages to partner and collaborate with non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, international organizations and academia in setting the road map for its anti-trafficking efforts within the framework of the National Action Plan on Anti-Trafficking in Persons 2021–2025 (NAPTIP 3.0). Furthermore, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, in collaboration with the Global Shepherds Berhad (GSB) and International Justice Mission (IJM) Malaysia developed two training manuals that provide guidelines to address trafficking issues as well as to develop the necessary skills for better delivery of victim care and protection services. The Committee takes due note of this information.