Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 · Updated to 30 Sep 2025 · Part III
23. Obligation of owner, operator or master of conveyance
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Any person being the owner, operator or master of any conveyance, that engages in the transportation of goods or people for commercial gain shall ensure that every person travelling on board is in possession of travel documents for lawful entry of that person into the receiving country or transit country.
conveyance
“conveyance” means any vehicle, vessel, ship, aircraft, or any other mode of transport whether by air, sea or land;
Any owner, operator or master of any conveyance mentioned in subsection (1) who—
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
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.
In any proceedings for an offence under this section, it shall be a defence for such owner, operator or master to prove that—
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;
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
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.
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.
trafficked person
“trafficked person” means any person who is the victim or object of an act of trafficking in persons;
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
trafficking in persons
“trafficking in persons” means all actions of recruiting, conveying, transferring, acquiring, maintaining, harbouring, providing or receiving, a person, for the purpose of exploitation, by the following means: (a) threat or use of force or other forms of coercion; (b) abduction; (c) fraud; (d) deception; (e) abuse of power; (f) abuse of the position of vulnerability of a person to an act of trafficking in persons; or (g) the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control over the trafficked person;
Anti-Smuggling of Migrants 25
smuggling of migrants
“smuggling of migrants” means— (a) arranging, facilitating or organizing, directly or indirectly, a person’s unlawful entry into or through, or unlawful exit from, any country of which the person is not a citizen or permanent resident either knowing or having reason to believe that the person’s entry or exit is unlawful; and (b) recruiting, conveying, transferring, concealing, harbouring or providing any other assistance or service for the purpose of carrying out the acts referred to in paragraph (a);
Terms defined in s 2
conveyance
Defined · s 2“conveyance” means any vehicle, vessel, ship, aircraft, or any other mode of transport whether by air, sea or land;
receiving country
Defined · s 2“receiving country” means a country into which a trafficked person or a smuggled migrant is brought as part of an act of trafficking in persons or smuggling of migrants, as the case may be; Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants 9
smuggling of migrants
Defined · s 2“smuggling of migrants” means— (a) arranging, facilitating or organizing, directly or indirectly, a person’s unlawful entry into or through, or unlawful exit from, any country of which the person is not a citizen or permanent resident either knowing or having reason to believe that the person’s entry or exit is unlawful; and (b) recruiting, conveying, transferring, concealing, harbouring or providing any other assistance or service for the purpose of carrying out the acts referred to in paragraph (a);
trafficked person
Defined · s 2“trafficked person” means any person who is the victim or object of an act of trafficking in persons;
trafficking in persons
Defined · s 2“trafficking in persons” means all actions of recruiting, conveying, transferring, acquiring, maintaining, harbouring, providing or receiving, a person, for the purpose of exploitation, by the following means: (a) threat or use of force or other forms of coercion; (b) abduction; (c) fraud; (d) deception; (e) abuse of power; (f) abuse of the position of vulnerability of a person to an act of trafficking in persons; or (g) the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control over the trafficked person;
transit country
Defined · s 2“transit country” means a country from which, or into or through which, a trafficked person or a smuggled migrant, as the case may be, is brought or travels through by land, sea or air or temporarily remains in as part of an act of trafficking in persons or smuggling of migrants;
Part IV
Enforcement
Part V
Part VI