Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$1.69 billion (FY00 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.03% (FY00)
Transnational Issues Malaysia
Disputes - international:
Malaysia has asserted sovereignty over the Spratly Islands together
with China, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; while
the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China
Sea" has eased tensions over the Spratly Islands, it is not the
legally binding "code of conduct" sought by some parties; Malaysia
was not party to the March 2005 joint accord among the national oil
companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam on conducting
marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; disputes continue
over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore, Singapore's land
reclamation, bridge construction, maritime boundaries, and Pedra
Branca Island/Pulau Batu Putih - but parties agree to ICJ
arbitration on island dispute within three years; ICJ awarded
Ligitan and Sipadan islands, also claimed by Indonesia and
Philippines, to Malaysia but left maritime boundary in the
hydrocarbon-rich Celebes Sea in dispute, culminating in hostile
confrontations in March 2005 over concessions to the Ambalat oil
block; separatist violence in Thailand's predominantly Muslim
southern provinces prompts measures to close and monitor border with
Malaysia to stem terrorist activities; Philippines retains a now
dormant claim to Malaysia's Sabah State in northern Borneo; in 2003,
Brunei and Malaysia ceased gas and oil exploration in their disputed
offshore and deepwater seabeds and negotiations have stalemated
prompting consideration of international adjudication; Malaysia's
land boundary with Brunei around Limbang is in dispute; piracy
remains a problem in the Malacca Strait
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 15,181 (Indonesia) 9,601 (Burma)
(2005)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Malaysia is a destination and, to a lesser
extent, a source and transit country for men and women trafficked
for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor; foreign
victims, mostly women and girls from China, Indonesia, Thailand, the
Philippines, and Vietnam, are trafficked to Malaysia for commercial
sexual exploitation; economic migrants from countries in the region
who work as domestic servants or laborers in the construction and
agricultural sectors face exploitative conditions in Malaysia that
meet the definition of involuntary servitude; some Malaysian women,
primarily of Chinese ethnicity, are trafficked abroad for sexual
exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Malaysia is placed on Tier 2 Watch
List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to
combat trafficking, particularly its failure to provide protection
for victims of trafficking
Illicit drugs:
regional transit point for some illicit drugs; drug trafficking
prosecuted vigorously and carries severe penalties
This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006
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@Maldives