Press Release – 12 September 2024

Members of the Child Rights Coalition Malaysia (CRCM) and other child protection advocacy groups are deeply disturbed and appalled by the recent revelations of various forms of exploitation and abuse (physical, sexual abuse (including sodomy) neglect, and abandonment of 402 minors, ages between 1 to 17 years, across 20 welfare homes linked to the Global Ikhwan Group in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. We applaud the quick action of the police in rescuing the children from such horrific abuses and the arrest of those who have failed in providing proper care for them.

These serious allegations highlight an untenable breach of the fundamental rights of children to survival, development and protection as protected under both national and international frameworks. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (UNCRC), which Malaysia has ratified, mandates that every child must be protected from all forms of physical and mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect, and sexual exploitation. A world where all children are free from crime and violence is one where all children can reach their fullest potential. For children, feeling and experiencing safety is a crucial precondition of their healthy development and access to opportunities. Safety from crime and violence is also necessary for them to fully benefit from education, experience a healthy family life, cultivate freedom of thought and expression, feel confident participating as valuable members of society, and enjoy their rights.

The failure to provide for the wellbeing of such a large group of children in their care highlights the sad state of the quality of care provided by many shelter homes and care centres in Malaysia, many of which are unlicensed and manned by insufficient and untrained staff including child protectors without relevant social work qualifications, expertise and experience to effectively case manage, monitor and undertake interventions for children in alternative care including institutional care in a timely manner to ensure their safety and well-being. This is further constrained by the unwillingness of the Department of Social Welfare to rope in relevant CSOs to jointly and effectively prevent, mitigate and respond to child sexual exploitation and abuse in alternative care arrangements and marginalised communities.

The Care Centres Act 1993 and its regulations provide only for minimum standards that all care centres are required to comply with but with only 2134 Care Centres registered with the Department of Social Welfare, there is no doubt that thousands more remain illegal and susceptible to risky care arrangements.

The Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 reinforces the legal framework to combat sexual crimes against children. The horrifying allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse against the minors in these welfare homes must be thoroughly investigated, and those responsible must face the full extent of the law without delay.

The Child Act 2001 provides comprehensive protection for children in Malaysia, addressing issues of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Under this Act, all children are entitled to be safeguarded from harm, and we urge the authorities to invoke all necessary provisions of this legislation to ensure these children receive the immediate protection and support services in their best interests. One of our key concerns is the subsequent care and placement of these children.

It is vital that the response to this crisis prioritises the safety, dignity, rights and best interests of each child involved. This tragic situation underscores the urgent need for stricter oversight and regular audits of registered and unregistered institutional care centres across the country to prevent such atrocities from occurring in the future. How are the victims supported? Are there specialised agencies and competent authorities providing support to these child victims? There needs to be safeguards in place to prevent more children being sexually exploited and abused. One child victim is one too many. Malaysia must take concrete steps to end all forms of violence against children (SDG16) by 2030.

We recommend that the following measures to be urgently considered and implemented:

1. We strongly urge the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, alongside the Department of Child Development, PDRM, Ministry of Health, BHEUU and Ministry of Justice to take swift and decisive action. It is imperative that all 402 children are placed in specialised care arrangements where they can receive the quality and timely protection, care including medical, psychosocial and rehabilitation and access to legal and justice.
2. Identify and blacklist the care centres and shelter homes in Malaysia and work together with countries where similar centres/ shelter homes are operational under the Global Ikhwan Group
3. We call on the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development to collaborate closely with reputable non-governmental organisations (NGOs) specialising in child protection and alternative care, to ensure these children are provided with safe spaces, trauma recovery support, and long-term solutions for their well-being
4. Establish an interagency mechanism with trained and competent child protectors, social workers/ case managers, medical practitioners, police, legal and judicial authorities, psychiatrists, psychologists, including those attached with CSOs with relevant qualifications, expertise and experience to provide quality and timely case management, psychosocial support, care arrangements services, rehabilitation and prevent re traumatisation
5. Identify and provide prompt case management services to place child victims deprived of parental care in suitable alternative care that would promote their safety, well-being and decrease the risk of re traumatisation
6. Mobilise service providers with relevant expertise and experience to provide specialised and long-term trauma informed psychosocial support and rehabilitation services to child victims manifesting psychological effects including risky sexualised behaviour as a result of the sexual exploitation and abuse they have experienced
7. Department of Child Development to investigate swiftly and confidentially the relevant child protectors/ authorities/ staff assigned to monitor these shelter homes in order to
   assess the gaps and limitations in the services provided that resulted in the heinous crime committed against these children
8. Cognisant of the dangers of institutional care, the Department of Child Development jointly establishes an interagency team together with relevant Ministries and CSOs and sets up relevant SOPs to promptly identify and take stock of unregistered care centres and registered shelter homes nationwide for the purposes of monitoring, case managing, rescuing child victims from risky situations and providing them with protection and support services. This includes mandating these care centres including detention centres, schools, learning centres, madrassahs to have functional child safeguarding policy, child protection procedures and confidential grievance/ complaints mechanisms in place and all workforces are trained to prevent, mitigate and respond to child sexual exploitation and abuse including online crimes against children.
9. Continue building the capacity and confidence of children in all communities and alternative care arrangements through personal safety programmes to say NO, Report and SEEK HELP from a trusted adult/ competent authority when they are at risk of/ experiencing sexual exploitation and abuse
10. Undertake a situational analysis, map and assess the social work services provided by the existing workforce under the Department of Child Development, other Ministries and CSOs to understand the strengths, weaknesses and gaps and make concrete recommendations to strengthen the care arrangements of children in alternative care placements
11. The Department of Child Development to consult and engage multi-stakeholders to jointly develop a National Plan of Action on Alternative Care for Children and Minimum Standards of Care for Children in Malaysia meets international minimum care standards and UNCRC
12. Establish an Independent Child Commission to spearhead and coordinate the multisectoral and interagency prevention and response to CSEA and OCSEA, including monitoring the current child protection system in Malaysia

We stand in solidarity with the children and their families and call upon the Government for justice to be served swiftly and for the children to be protected, supported and placed in safe caring environments considering the multiple levels of abuse and trauma they have experienced.

Issued by:

CHILD RIGHTS COALITION MALAYSIA

Date : 12th September 2024

Contact : childrightscoalitionmalaysia[at]gmail.com

About CRCM:

Child Rights Coalition Malaysia (CRCM) was launched on Human Rights Day, December 10, 2012, by a group of Malaysian NGOs who had been worked together to write the first comprehensive NGO Alternative Report on the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) for Malaysia.

Through their work, the CRCM had built networks with child-based NGOs around the country and had become recognized among Malaysian NGOs. At the launch, the inaugural Annual Report on the Status of Children’s Rights in Malaysia was released. The CRCM works to support implementation of the UN CRC and promote children’s rights in Malaysia. The CRCM membership consists of organisations and individuals committed to promoting children’s rights and we work together to advance a child rights agenda.