Malaysia owes it to young victims of cult-linked group to start healing process

Malaysians have been left in a state of disbelief over the past two weeks, as police revealed shocking revelations of systemic abuse of children allegedly at the hands of a cult-linked company that had been operating for years in the country.

As of Monday, police said they had rescued more than 550 children from welfare homes and religious schools allegedly run by Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH) across the peninsula, acting on information gathered from surveillance on the company for more than a decade.

Authorities say the self-styled Islamic conglomerate, which claims an expansive business network spanning at least seven countries, is essentially the banned Al-Arqam sect in all but name, having emerged from the ashes of a 1994 crackdown. The sect was previously declared illegal for deviant practices that did not align with Malaysia’s mainstream interpretation of Islam.

Malaysia’s police chief Razarudin Husain said careful and methodical treatment of GISBH was necessary to remove all traces of the sect.