Malaysia legislation
Section 23
of ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS AND ANTI-SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS ACT 2007
Section 23
(2)
Any owner, operator or master of any conveyance mentioned in subsection (1) who—
(a)
knowingly permits or has reasonable grounds to believe that such conveyance is used for purposes of bringing a person into a receiving country or transit country without travel documents required for the lawful entry of that person into the receiving country or transit country; or
Act 670
(b)
knowingly permits or has reasonable grounds to believe that such conveyance is being used for purposes of committing any offence of trafficking in persons, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.
(3)
In any proceedings for an offence under this section, it shall be a defence for such owner, operator or master to prove that—
(a)
he has reasonable grounds to believe that the travel documents of the person travelling on board are travel documents required for lawful entry of that person into the receiving country or transit country;
(b)
the person travelling on board possessed travel documents required for lawful entry into the receiving country or transit country when that person boarded, or last boarded, the conveyance to travel to the receiving country or transit country; or
(c)
the entry of the person into the receiving country or transit country occurred only because of illness or injury to that person, stress of weather or any other circumstances beyond the control of such owner, operator or master.
(4)
Any person convicted of an offence under this section shall be liable to pay the costs of the trafficked person’s detention in, and removal from, the receiving country or transit country.
(5)
Where there is no prosecution or conviction under this section, the owner, operator or master of the conveyance used shall be jointly and severally liable for all expenses incurred by the Government in respect of the detention and maintenance of the trafficked person and his removal from Malaysia and such expenses shall be recoverable as a debt due to the Government.
Anti-Trafficking in Persons and
Anti-Smuggling of Migrants 25
Intentional omission to give information