he 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, and maritime boundaries in the
Johor and Singapore Straits; in November 2007 the ICJ will hold
public hearings in response to the Memorials and Countermemorials
filed by the parties in 2003 and 2005 over sovereignty of Pedra
Branca Island/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge; ICJ
awarded Ligitan and Sipadan islands, also claimed by Indonesia and
Philippines, to Malaysia but left maritime boundary and sovereignty
of Unarang rock in the hydrocarbon-rich Celebes Sea in dispute;
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 dormant claim to
Malaysia's Sabah State in northern Borneo; Brunei and Malaysia are
still considering international adjudication over their disputed
offshore and deepwater seabeds, where hydrocarbon exploration was
terminated in 2003; 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): 19,153 (Indonesia), 14,208 (Burma)
(2006)

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 traff