KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has proposed information-sharing cooperation among Asean member countries to enable the identity of convicted sex offenders to be identified in a bid to curb their activities, especially paedophiles.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the cooperation was vital to ensure that children in every Asean countries would be protected from sexual exploitation, including online.
“We want to see how we can collaborate within Asean because, right now, we want to have shared information and data.
“Through immigration, for example, we must share the information to enable us to know about convicted sex offenders and whether they are wanted in their countries so that we can take the appropriate action,” she told reporters after launching the 2019 International Association of Counter-terrorism & Security Professionals (IACSP) Cyber Defense Conference here today.
Meanwhile, in her speech, Dr Wan Azizah pointed out that the information on the modus operandi of those convicted or charged with sexual crimes could also be used by the authorities to check if these criminals were targeting those beyond their borders.
“This sharing of intelligence can help prevent serial sex offenders such as Richard Huckle from reaching our shores,” she said.
According to news reports, Huckle, 32, is described as Britain’s worst paedophile who was in 2016 convicted in Britain of 71 counts of serious sexual assaults against children. It was reported that his known victims are Malaysian and Cambodian.
Dr Wan Azizah who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister said the government was in the midst of reviewing the National Cyber Security Policy (NCSP) and developing a more contemporary Malaysia Cyber Security Strategy (MCSS).
She said MCSS is a five years comprehensive strategy which will holistically encompass all aspects of Malaysia’s cybersecurity concerns including governance; legislation and enforcement; innovation, industry development, technology security and research & development (R&D); capacity building and raising awareness; as well as encouraging stronger international engagement and cooperation.
“This includes the formulation of cybersecurity legislation to further strengthen enforcement against crimes in the cyber world,” she said. – Bernama
