Sexual abuse at Islamic welfare homes exposes weaknesses in child protection in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A police swoop on 20 child welfare homes in Malaysia where hundreds of children were allegedly sexually abused has exposed weaknesses in child protection in the country and cast a spotlight on the Islamic business group that ran the homes.

Malaysian authorities rescued 402 children, half of them boys and the rest girls, from 20 homes run by Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings, a group aiming to promote an Islamic way of life, during the police sting Wednesday. Police detained 171 suspects, including religious teachers and caretakers.

The business group was founded by Ashaari Mohamad, who headed the Islamic sect Al Arqam — a cult that was deemed heretical and banned by the government in 1994. He died in 2010, but the group has continued to flourish.

Details of alleged serious abuse at the homes have sparked outrage and shock in the predominantly Muslim nation. Activists called for all child centers to be regulated and monitored, and for the Welfare Department to strengthen enforcement on religious institutions.

“The horrific sexual and physical abuse that has been reported… is a major wake-up call. It demands that we re-evaluate the quality and scope of our child protection services,” a group of 38 child activists, rights groups and social workers said in a joint statement.

National police chief Razarudin Ismail has said some of the children, aged from one to 17, were believed sodomized by their guardians and also taught to sexually abuse each other. He said they were denied medical treatment and burnt with hot metal spoons as punishment for being disobedient.

The children, whose parents are Global Ikhwan employees, were placed at the homes since they were infants and believed to be