The organizers had held two street protests in July, demanding the prime ministers resignation, the reopening of parliament, and an automatic loan repayment moratorium for all. The government used the COVID-19 pandemic to further this practice. In 2019 UNHCR estimated there were 450,000 stateless persons residing in the eastern state of Sabah. In May Home Affairs Minister Hamzah Zainudin declared the government would round up and vaccinate undocumented migrants to help them and protect Malaysians. If the migrants did not come for vaccinations, the government would go after them, he told media, adding that authorities would then work with employers and embassies to get individuals documented only for the purpose of vaccination. For examples of social problems in Malaysia include crime, violence, gangsterism, drug abuse, baby dumping, vandalism, and young relationship among youth. The Malaysian Bar Council strongly criticized the immigration courts in detention centers as facilitating a legal process where migrant workers were not provided with a clear understanding of the charges against them in their own language and were effectively denied the right to legal counsel. Issues like sustainability of local businesses and racism (remember the George Floyd protests?) Trials for all were delayed due to the state of emergency and movement control orders to combat COVID-19. AFP pic Another study in Hong Kong published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health also found that 25.4 per cent of 500 survey respondents reported that their mental health had deteriorated since the pandemic began. Self-censorship took place among academics at private institutions as well, spurred by fear the government might revoke the licenses of their institutions. Baseline figures of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness in Sabah, where approximately 80,000 Filipino Muslim refugees resided, were unavailable. A government voluntary code of conduct provides a detailed definition of sexual harassment intended to raise public awareness of the problem. The NGO EDICT called for an inquiry, adding that for police to abuse tactics to force suspects to confess is inappropriate. In September, Home Affairs Minister Hamzah announced police had started an inquest into the death. In June the Royal Malaysian Police Sexual, Women, and Child Investigation Division reported an increase in the number of reports of child rape by older family members during the various movement control orders. However, water issues are still a significant problem in Malaysia. Shortest response: "Tol". In August police investigated seven activists from youth coalition Sekratariat Solidariti Rakyat for sedition in relation to a planned street protest. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media, b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association, d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country, e. Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons, Section 3. The kingship rotates among the sultans of the nine states with hereditary Malay rulers. Biggest Social Issues . The sentences for subsequent convictions are fines and up to three months in jail. According to the minister, of 30 investigations opened from March to October, 12 were brought to court, 14 were classified as no further action, and four remained under investigation. This included any enterprise not registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia or other professional body and included more than one million self-employed or micro businesses, such as in-home workers, street vendors, and small workshops. The government reserved large quotas for the bumiputra majority for positions in the federal civil service as well as for vocational permits and licenses in a wide range of industries, which greatly reduced economic opportunity for minority groups (see section 6, Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination). Minimum wage rates varied according to location and were less than Ministry of Finance-published poverty income levels in Sabah and Sarawak states. Malaysia has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention. Employers reportedly restricted workers movement and use of mobile telephones; provided substandard food; did not provide sufficient time off; sexually assaulted workers; and harassed and threatened workers, including with deportation. On May 1, hours after the easing of some restrictions, authorities raided one such area and rounded up hundreds of migrants. The government confirmed in September 2020 that Malaysia will not entertain requests from China to extradite Uyghur refugees and will allow them safe passage to third countries. Some workers alleged their employers subjected them to inhuman living conditions and physically assaulted them. Americans' views of the problems facing the nation. Hamzah announced that the Ministry of Home Affairs was installing closed-circuit television inside all police lockups in April and that installation was 40 percent complete as of September 29. The time needed for a union to be recognized remained long and unpredictable. This verdict could potentially nullify some strict anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) legislation at the state level that uses the same rationale as the federal laws. Defendants may not be compelled to testify or confess guilt. The 'new normal' comes with its fair share of added stresses and worries for everyone to handle. Refugees employed in the informal sector were paid lower wages than comparable employees and were vulnerable to exploitation. You can add more than one country or area. The National Registration Department did not maintain records of stateless persons. The government curbed freedom of expression, particularly freedom of the press. In July, the minister in charge of religious affairs gave full licence to the religious authorities to take action against transgender people, both through arrests and religious education to return them to the right path. In August, after activist Nicole Fong responded to his statement by posting a series of infographics online critical of the official mukhayyam programwhich aims in part to influence LGBT people to renounce their non-normative gender identity or sexual orientationreligious authorities lodged a police report against her. ReachOut at au.reachout.com. The measures included school officials forcing girls to show their blood-soaked sanitary pads; doing swabs of their vaginas with cotton buds, tissues, or fingers; or patting them down to feel if they were wearing a sanitary pad. Outside the political and human rights fields, the government generally allowed NGOs to function independently, met with representatives from some NGOs, and responded to some NGO requests. The government reported that 23 people, including two children, died while in immigration detention during the first six months of 2020. Moreover, it does not require equal populations in electoral constituencies in any given state. The government bans membership in unregistered political parties and organizations. In September a sessions court fined immigration officer Yusrazif Wan Yusoh 50,000 ringgit ($12,000) after he pleaded guilty to five counts of accepting kickbacks totaling 15,000 ringgit ($3,600) to free Filipino and Chinese nationals detained by the Immigration Department. Advocacy groups such as the Association of Women Lawyers stated these provisions were not comprehensive enough to provide adequate help to victims. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, a. The law provides citizens the ability to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal suffrage. Non-Muslims are not subject to sharia. Participation of Women and Members of Minority Groups: No laws limit participation by women or members of minority groups or of historically marginalized groups in the political process, and they did participate. What is qualitative research and why is it important? Nur Sajat failed to appear for her court date on February 23, citing a medical condition. Employers were unilaterally able to terminate work permits, subjecting migrant workers to immediate deportation. UNHCR registers children born to refugees (see section 2.g., Stateless Persons). Those that have been permitted to land have been detained as illegal migrants, with some prosecuted for immigration violations. The great floods. Smoking . Several UN experts expressed concern that the crackdown was severely undermining efforts to fight the pandemic and immigration detention centers subsequently reported an increase in confirmed cases of Covid-19. The Electoral Commission has established constituencies with widely varying populations, further to the advantage of rural populations. Employers did not respect laws on wages and working hours. There were scattered reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, mostly in the prison system. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. The new government has taken a hard line on refugees, with the home minister stating that they have no status, rights, or basis to present any demands to the government. The authorities pushed boatloads of desperate Rohingya refugees who were trying to reach Malaysias shores back out to sea, claiming that they were doing so to prevent the spread of Covid-19. A regulation reserves 1 percent of public-sector jobs for persons with disabilities. The religious NGO Ikram warned that some residents rejected the COVID-19 vaccine, believing it to be part of the Jewish agenda, that it contained nonhalal ingredients and tracking chips, and that it could cause death. National Security: Authorities often cited national security laws to restrict media distribution of material critical of government policies and public officials. In February the High Court ruled against the Semelai Orang Asli claim for customary rights over a plot of land in Pahang State to make way for an oil palm cultivation project. The plan outlined policies to increase access to education and attendance in schools, increase access to health education, address stigma and social norms on child marriage, and specify laws and guidelines on child marriages that are in line with government policies guarding the well-being of children. Instead, bilateral agreements or memoranda of understanding between the government and some source countries for migrant workers include provisions for rest periods, compensation, and other conditions of employment for migrant domestic workers, including prohibitions on passport retention. On 20 February 2021, Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin announced that school pupils will be returning to school in stages between 1 March and 4 April. Defendants have the right to communicate with an attorney of their choice or to have counsel appointed at public expense if they face charges that carry the death penalty. They focus mainly on students . Nonetheless, NGOs reported continued discrimination against women in the workplace in terms of promotion and salary (see section 7.d.). Such groups also sometimes attempted to intimidate opposition groups through demonstrations. They discovered that an international cartel for more than 40 years had smuggled noncertified meat into the country and falsely represented it as halal-certified by using national halal logos with the help of corrupt senior government officials from at least four agencies. No matter how small or big their problems, their troubles may feel unbearable or overwhelming. Employment discrimination occurred against persons with disabilities (see section 7.d.). . UPDATED: Check out what Singaporeans cared about in 2021. In parliament 33 women held 14.8 percent of the seats, an increase from 10.8 percent in the previous election cycle. Depression. The government did not effectively enforce laws prohibiting forced labor in some cases, and large fines as penalties were not commensurate with those for other analogous serious crimes, such as kidnapping. Community of Ethical Hackers Needed to Prevent AI's Looming 'crisis of Trust . Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36. The law imposes limitations on student associations and on student and faculty political activity. A group of civil society organizations later reported that on the day of the protest, roadblocks, closure of the public square where protesters were gathering, police crowding, and ostentatious surveillance, including by drones and a helicopter, obstructed the publics freedom of expression and assembly.. Before and during that campaign, opposition politicians and civil society organizations alleged electoral irregularities and systemic disadvantages for opposition groups due to a lack of media access for the opposition and malapportioned districts favoring the then ruling coalition. Supporters congregated at the police station, and civil rights organizations demanded his release; they were then also called in for questioning. In May police reported an increase in cases involving child pornography during the movement control order period from March 2020 to April 2021, including child grooming without physical contact using words or showing obscene sexual acts to children. The government censored films for certain political and religious content, not allowing, for example, screening of films in Hebrew or Yiddish, or from Israel. In February 2021, the Malaysian government decided to build and manage a state-operated 5G . Police justified this practice as necessary to prevent interference in investigations in progress, and the courts generally upheld the practice. This returned the long-dominant UMNO to power . Cultural barriers and government policies impeded access to sexual and reproductive health services. Also known as social issues sometimes. The government cracked down on migrants, particularly Rohingya, who were put into detention centers for what it claimed was COVID-19-related quarantine.. Close to nine in 10 (87%) HR executives in Malaysia believe the function plays a leading role in responding to COVID-19, KPMG's recent 2020 HR Pulse Survey has found. One-Stop Crisis Centers, an integrated multiagency service in the emergency department of most major public hospitals, provided support, including emergency contraception, to victims of sexual violence. International Child Abductions: The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. MACC noted that all transactions associated with the 29 charges against Noor Ehsanuddin were advances that had been fully repaid. The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic throughout the year 2020 and into 2021 has necessitated further rethinking on the question of poverty and inequality as new evidence has emerged.