Advocates for alternatives to detention for children have welcomed Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail's commitment to follow through with the ministry's plans that could see minors being moved out of the Immigration Department's depots into external shelters.
Their stand is in line with a general view that no children should be kept in detention, while also focusing on circumstances faced by unaccompanied minors - currently numbering 679 detainees in 19 depots, according to government data as of April 12.
The remaining 351 children are detained together with either one or both parents, mostly in the process of obtaining travel documents from their respective embassies before being deported.
Children's Commissioner Farah Nini Dusuki said Suhakam, in its latest series of engagements with the government, had proposed for the Home Ministry to work together with other relevant ministries and agencies that have alternative facilities to be turned into dedicated children's shelters.
"For example, maybe there are existing welfare homes that are no longer being used.
"The Children's Commissioner also appeals for cooperation between the government, NGOs and CSOs to ensure the rights of children are protected in areas of access such as healthcare and education," she said in a statement to Malaysiakini.
Farah said Suhakam's advocacy on the issue, alongside other NGOs, had started in 2014 and it led to approval from the then-cabinet in 2021 on their proposed alternatives to detention for children.
Following a visit to the Semenyih detention depot, Saifuddin yesterday said his ministry is in the final stages of drafting its own cabinet paper with follow-up proposals to his initial plan of moving children currently in immigration custody into external shelters pending deportation.
'Case management approach'
Child rights NGO Suka Society executive director Anderson Selvasegaram said part of the group's work focused on seeking fair treatment for the unaccompanied and separated minors in detention.
"Of course, at any point, we don't want to separate children from their parents if all of them are detained together.
"The right move in such cases will be to remove their whole family from detention into an alternative shelter," Anderson told Malaysiakini.
For children detained without a parent or guardian, Anderson said options to be considered include moving them into temporary residential care or long-term foster care, as another alternative to deportation.
"There are residential children's homes in Malaysia. There are also NGOs that work on case management and foster care.
"The process and guidelines must be in place so that it would be a transition (from immigration detention) that factors in all the rights and best interest of the child," he said.
"This issue has been advocated by some NGOs for quite a long time and we're encouraged to see things moving along now," Anderson added.
Similarly, Asylum Access Malaysia executive director Tham Hui Ying pointed to cooperation between the government and child protection NGOs; the latter with experts in case management support for solutions based on an individual child's best interest.
Asked whether child refugees are more at risk of being unaccompanied minors in detention, Tham said recent statistics showed that a majority of them are from Myanmar and so, it is likely they are seeking asylum in Malaysia.
"But it is hard to ascertain because the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) has not had access to the depots since August 2019," she said.
Overall, Tham also echoed hope for cooperation to ultimately ensure the well-being of children being prioritised.
"There shouldn’t be family separation, and all unaccompanied children are placed in suitable shelters and community placement," she said.
"We hope the minister takes concrete action without delay and solidifies these efforts with a clear policy expressly prohibiting the detention of children for immigration offences.
"We stand committed to supporting the government in protecting the best interests and well-being of all children in Malaysia, in accordance with their obligations under the Child Act and CRC," said Tham.
'Ecosystem for unaccompanied minors'
Buku Jalanan Chow Kit founder Siti Rahayu Baharin, meanwhile, private donors or corporations could contribute to set-up an ecosystem for unaccompanied minors released from immigration detention.
"Like it or not, once they are released, the children will be a part of our society. How are we going to make sure they will be able to build themselves up as good individuals?
"There are quarters who claim these children could be future national security threats.
"They will only be threats if we deny them access to their basic rights, to education, healthcare...if we don't raise them to be good humans," said Rahayu, who is known for her work with stateless children.
As for current conditions in the immigration depots, Rahayu said she once had three children in her care who ended up in detention and her visits revealed they were denied access to reading materials including newspapers.
Malaysia's handling of children in detention had in recent months attracted international scrutiny following a multi-agency Immigration Department-led raid at a migrant settlement in Nilai Spring, Negeri Sembilan, where among those arrested included 36 children. - Mkini
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