You have failed our children: Activists criticize lack of accountability over GISB abuses

KUALA LUMPUR – Will the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development step forward and hold itself accountable for the horrific physical and emotional abuse allegedly inflicted on children in the care of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH)?

The ministry, led by Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, has apparently failed to apologise for the plight of over 500 children rescued from GISBH-affiliated homes and religious schools, sparking the anger of child rights activists.

Sharmila Sekaran, co-founder of the children’s rights organization Voice of the Children, says the authorities’ failure to take action against GISBH sooner has caused severe trauma to child victims recently rescued from the building, where they are said to have suffered sexual abuse and emotional manipulation.

Sharmila pointed out that the Ministry of Women oversees the Child Development Department, which was established in September last year to replace the Children’s Department of the Public Welfare Department (JKM), which also falls under the ministry.

“As a child protector, you have to say sorry when children are not protected. When you talk to people who have been abused, you will find that sometimes all they want is someone to apologize for what happened to them,” Sharmila said when contacted by Scoop.

“The Ministry of Women has abandoned these children (who are allegedly victims of GISBH), (and yet) we have not heard any apology from anyone in the Ministry, nor from other authorities.

“In other countries, if an incident of this magnitude occurs, the minister would resign, but I don’t think we have reached that level of integrity in Malaysia yet.”

On September 11, police rescued 402 children aged one to 17 from 20 nursing homes in Selangor and Negri Sembilan, which authorities linked to GISBH, as part of a major joint operation called Op Global.

Three days later, Nancy said in a statement that her ministry, through JKM, had been involved in the operation from the beginning. She assured that the rescued children would receive proper care and protection, while noting that the ministry would continue to fulfill its responsibilities in the best interests of the children.

In phase four of Op Global, which began on September 21, police rescued a further 187 victims, 59 of whom were under the age of 5, after raiding 59 properties across the country.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said earlier that initial health checks of a number of children had revealed that they had been beaten, flogged, malnourished and were victims of child abuse, child labour and exploitation.

Razarudin also denied allegations that police delayed action against GISBH. He said police had investigated 41 reports of GISBH since 2011, but arrests were made only after credible evidence was obtained.

While GISBH has gained media attention for its ties to the banned, deviant sect Al-Arqam, Sharmila pointed out that the ongoing case of alleged child abuse is far from an isolated incident.

She referred to the case of British paedophile Richard Huckle, who was sentenced to 22 life sentences in 2016 after pleading guilty in a British court to 71 sex offences involving Malaysian children.

Huckle admitted to abusing children aged between 6 months and 13 years between 2006 and 2014, posing as a Christian missionary and freelance photographer in Malaysia.

“We know very well that there are bad people who are trying to take advantage of our children, some of whom may not have parental support or may have dysfunctional parental backgrounds, similar to the situation where some of the children rescued from GISBH reportedly do not know their parents,” Sharmila said.

“We know this, and yet there is no serious political will on the part of the authorities to say that the government will take responsibility for the well-being of our children. Until that happens, similar incidents will continue to happen and the public will forget about them after a while.”

She also proposed that the government establish a unit within the Department of Child Development that would ensure the registration and monitoring of individuals and centres involved in the care of children.

Such a move, she said, should be accompanied by a streamlining of JKM’s role to have a clearer definition, as JKM staff are currently tasked with overseeing not only the welfare of children but also the elderly and disabled in the community.

While the Child Care Centres Act, 1984 mandates that such centres should be registered with the JKM, Sharmila said the presence of the Child Development Department will ensure that minors are safeguarded and provided with proper protection.

Srividhya Ganapathy, co-chair of the Child Rights Innovation and Betterment Foundation, echoed similar sentiments, saying that the problems created by the different regulations imposed by different agencies (all of which are tasked with overseeing and licensing daycare centres) are compounded by the absence of an overarching regulatory body to oversee the welfare of children.

She stressed that there is no “complete set of requirements” that childcare workers must adhere to, regardless of whether the children are placed in JKM-registered centres or religious schools under the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim).

She argued that there is a need for an independent agency to act as a ‘team leader’ in the management of child victims rescued from the GISBH. She suggested that the Child Development Department might face problems if it were to take on such a role.

“This case is a landmark case that we should see as an example of our need for an independent oversight or regulatory body responsible for the welfare of children,” she told Scoop.

“Some might say there is no need for a department because we have the Child Development Department, but can the department tell the police what to do to prevent further harm to the victims? Will the police listen?

“All children rescued from GISBH are in need of care and their rights have been violated in one way or another.

“There must be a project leader who manages the treatment of the victims, in an effort to right, remedy and rehabilitate all the injustices done to them.”

Srividhya stressed that the priority should be to prevent the victims from being re-traumatized after their rescue. He said that the independent agency in question should be given the power to “ask questions and give directions” with the aim of protecting the children. – September 26, 2024

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