PREVENTION
The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. MAPO, headed by the home affairs ministry, included representation from multiple government entities. MAPO leadership was active in coordinating anti-trafficking efforts, but lacked adequate budget support. Malaysia convened four cabinet-level meetings to discuss human trafficking issues during the reporting period. NGOs continued to report deficiencies in the government’s progress to implement Malaysia’s 2010-2015 national plan of action to combat trafficking. The government reported producing  3,947

public service radio announcements and 1,179 public service television broadcasts during the reporting period, a decrease from 6,078 and 6,032 announcements in 2013. It also published 15,000 informational brochures on trafficking indicators for law enforcement personnel.The Ministry of Home Affairs facilitated outreach sessions in Penang, Shah Alam, and Johor to raise awareness on forced labor indicators, such as passport retention, among 100 companies in the electronics industry.
In February 2015, Malaysian and Indonesian officials announced the creation of an “official channel” for domestic worker recruitment, which aims to expedite recruitment and minimize the number of migrants who seek work illegally.The government did not finalize a memorandum of understanding to govern the employment of Cambodian domestic workers in Malaysia, and the Cambodian government’s 2011 ban on Cambodian women’s travel to Malaysia for domestic work remained in effect. Domestic workers continued to be excluded from a number of protections under Malaysian employment law, including the country’s minimum wage. The government’s anti-trafficking awareness campaign highlighted criminal penalties associated with commercial sexual exploitation and the information was disseminated via television and radio media, public fora, and at specific engagements with target groups such as manufacturers.The government provided anti-trafficking training to Malaysian troops prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions and anti-trafficking training and guidance for its diplomatic personnel.

MALDIVES: Tier 2 Watch List    
Maldives is a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking, and a source country for women and children subjected to labor and sex trafficking. An unknown number of the approximately 200,000 documented and undocumented foreign workers in Maldives—primarily Bangladeshi and Indian men in the construction and service sectors—experience forced labor, including fraudulent recruitment, confiscation of identity and travel documents, withholding or nonpayment of wages, and debt bondage. Migrant workers pay approximately $400 to $4,000 in recruitment fees to work in Maldives, contributing to their risk of debt bondage upon arrival. In addition to Bangladeshis and Indians, some workers from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal reportedly experience recruitment fraud before arriving in Maldives. Recruitment agents in source countries collude with employers and agents in Maldives to facilitate fraudulent recruitment and forced labor of migrant workers. NGOs allege officials may warn businesses in advance of planned raids for suspected trafficking offenses or other labor abuses and be involved in labor recruiting practices that can lead to trafficking. A small number of women from Asia, Eastern Europe, and former Soviet countries, as well as girls from Bangladesh and Maldives, are subjected to sex trafficking in Maldives. Some Maldivian children are transported to the capital, Male, from other islands for domestic service; some of these children are also reportedly subjected to sexual abuse and may be victims of forced labor. Maldivian women may be subjected to sex trafficking in Sri Lanka.
The Government of Maldives does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.The government coordination committee adopted a national action plan for 2015-2019 and continued to develop procedures for victim identification,

protection, and referral. Despite these measures, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing anti-trafficking efforts compared to the previous reporting period; therefore, Maldives is placed on Tier 2 Watch List. The state-run shelter for female trafficking victims that opened in January 2014 shortly thereafter began barring victims from access. The government did not initiate any prosecutions and there were no convictions in 2014, a decrease from one conviction in 2013, and some officials warned businesses in advance of planned raids to investigate suspected trafficking offenses or other labor abuses.

RECOMMENDATIONS  FOR THE MALDIVES:
Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute suspected trafficking offenses, respecting due process; finalize standard operating procedures to proactively identify trafficking victims and refer them to protection services, and train officials on their use; re-establish victim access to the state-run shelter and consistent rehabilitation services; finalize and implement the standard operating procedures for shelter operations and victim services; increase efforts to monitor and punish labor recruitment agents and firms engaging in fraudulent practices; enforce prohibitions against passport retention by employers and government agencies; raise public awareness of human trafficking through media campaigns; provide translators to law enforcement and labor authorities to ensure foreign workers are able to participate in inspections, investigations, and prosecutions against their alleged traffickers; and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION
The government’s anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts decreased. The Prevention of Human Trafficking Act prohibits many, but not all, forms of sex and labor trafficking under Articles 12, 13, 14, and 16. The law prohibits internal and transnational trafficking. However, in a departure from the 2000 UNTIP Protocol definition, it generally requires the acts of exploitation be predicated on movement and does not criminalize child sex trafficking in the absence of coercion. The law does prohibit debt bondage and some forms of child trafficking without requiring movement.Article 13 is overly broad; for example, it includes compelling a person to undergo a medical test after being transported as a form of trafficking in persons. The law prescribes penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent but are not commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.The government reported investigating five trafficking cases in 2014, an increase from one case in 2013; however, for the second consecutive year, authorities did not initiate any new prosecutions.The government also did not convict any trafficking offenders in 2014, compared with one conviction in 2013.
Officials continued to conflate human trafficking with human smuggling and the presence of undocumented migrants in Maldives. Observers noted trafficking-specific training was needed government-wide, especially for investigators, prosecutors, and