Only use qualified child protection workers, says activist

PETALING JAYA: Activists are calling on the government to ensure that all child protection workers are properly qualified and have specialist training in the field, following a recent raid that uncovered multiple cases of abuse.

Thulasi Munisamy of Protect and Save the Children said that workers caring for children must have the necessary qualifications, expertise and experience to safeguard children’s rights and represent their interests.

She said that a bill should be drafted on the social work profession, which would regulate, approve and manage the recruitment of competent personnel for the protection and support of vulnerable children and child victims.

Thulasi also proposed the introduction of mandatory child protection measures in all shelters, schools, madrassas and detention centres, stressing the importance of training staff in preventing and addressing child exploitation and online crime.

She was responding after authorities announced on Wednesday that they had rescued 402 children from 20 nursing homes in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

The children, aged between one and seventeen, are believed to have been victims of neglect and physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

Another child activist, James Nayagam of the Suriana Welfare Society, said he had raised the issue earlier when he was a member of the Child Welfare Council of Malaysia.

He said nursing homes run by Islamic organisations are not subject to the same strict standards and procedures as registered homes.

These homes, he said, are overseen by religious organizations and are exempt from formal registration processes.

There is no supervision, no control and no child protection involved.

It deeply shocked me that organizations have been allowed to operate with so many children for so many years.

On Friday, police inspector Razarudin Husain said the rescued children are undergoing medical check-ups, which are expected to take at least 10 days.

Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH), which has been linked to the nursing homes by police, denies operating the homes.

It is also denied that children are exploited, sodomized and forced to sexually abuse others.