Chairman’s Message the Commission has held watching briefs in 17 cases. It has also pursued with the Syariah Judiciary Department of Malaysia the proposal for the Commission to hold watching briefs in Syariah Courts in cases involving human rights and Islam. With the Department’s positive response, the Commission looks forward to formalising the arrangement and necessary procedures in the near future. The crime of human trafficking is a grave violation of human rights. The Commission was deeply disturbed by the shocking discovery of 28 abandoned human trafficking camps and 139 graves in Wang Kelian, Perlis, near the Malaysia-Thai border. The magnitude of human rights violations arising from these incidents reflects how human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants remain serious concerns locally and internationally. Given Malaysia’s upgrade from Tier 3 to Tier 2 on the Watch List by the U.S. Department of State in its 2015 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, the Commission saw the pressing need for the Government to investigate the matter in a transparent manner and to step up its efforts to combat human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants in this country. The Commission continued its efforts in educating and promoting human rights through various activities and joint projects involving schools, universities, enforcement agencies, civil society organisations and grassroots communities. The Commission was pleased to note that the Human Rights Best Practices in Schools (HRBPS) Programme - better known by its Malay language acronym “ATHAM” - which was jointly introduced by the Commission and the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 2008 had been expanded to 152 schools in Peninsular Malaysia and will reach out to another 24 schools in Sabah and 31 schools in Sarawak by 2016. The Commission, however, observed gaps in the implementation of the ATHAM programme, which it believes could be resolved with the setting up of a committee in each State and District Education Department by the MOE. The Commission continues to strongly believe that one of the most effective ways of promoting human rights among people is through the inculcation of human rights values at an early age beginning at the primary school level - as is done in an increasing number of countries - and in this regard it will continue with its efforts to persuade the Ministry of Education to take the necessary steps in this direction. The Commission also continued to highlight the plight of Sekolah Agama Rakyat - SAR (Peoples’ Religious Schools) and was also disappointed that many of the issues pertaining to the teaching and learning facilities reported in its previous Annual Reports (2012 to 2014) remained unresolved although some of these issues could actually be dealt with administratively by the relevant Government agencies without policy changes. The gaps between SAR and mainstream schools in receiving equal access to education was another challenge that requires serious attention from the Government. The Commission deems it important for the Government to address these pertinent issues in its continuous effort to ensure access and equity to quality education for all children in the country. 3 BOOK-ANR2016-01-latest.indb 3 08/04/2016 3:32 PM