BUKIT JALIL: The government is in the midst of upgrading three premises to establish Baitul Mahabbah exclusively for children under 10 years old whose parents are being detained at the immigration depots.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the three Baitul Mahabbah would be in Kelantan, Kedah, and Johor with a total allocation of RM10 million.
"Based on our humane instincts, we will place those who are under 10 years old, whether they were born in the depots or were taken during immigration operations, at the Baitul Mahabbah, which provides a more conducive environment with better care.
"They will also have the opportunity to attend reading classes conducted by the Immigration Department," he said at a press conference after distributing Hari Raya clothes to children at the Bukit Jalil Immigration depot.
Saifuddin said they have identified the three new premises and would upgrade them instead of building new ones, as it would be costly.
He said currently, there are three existing Baitul Mahabbah in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Papar, Sabah, and Miri, Sarawak, which have a capacity of 300 children.
"I will continue to visit the ground. Last year, until 4am, I was at the Semenyih Immigration depot and I brought the children to Baitul Mahabbah.
"The government has changed, and the NGOs can continue to raise concerns about mistreatment among children, which is inhumane.
"They can keep talking, and I will keep doing my work. Let the record show that we have introduced three Baitul Mahabbah and are planning to introduce three more," he said.
Last month, a global human rights watchdog urged the Malaysian government, especially the Immigration Department, to stop detaining migrant children at detention centres.
The Human Rights Watch's (HRW) report titled 'We Can't See the Sun: Malaysia's Arbitrary Detention of Migrants and Refugees' stated that the government's practice of arbitrarily detaining children at immigration detention centres nationwide violated international laws.
It said such detentions, whether they only involved the child or a child detained along with his or her family member, are deemed contrary to children's rights.
The report stated that such centres were not in the child's best interests because they could potentially have a significant long-term impact on the child's mental health and development.