KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — The United Nations Childrens’ Fund (Unicef) Malaysia will continue its work with the new Malaysian government particularly on issues relating to child marriage and the detention of unaccompanied and separated children at immigration detention centres nationwide.
Its Chief of Child Protection Saskia Blume said child marriage issue is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that affects many countries but the good news is the rates of child marriage have been reported as going down globally.
“This proves that there is a global understanding and momentum to end child marriage.
“Malaysia also recognises this in terms of having the national strategic plan, but looking at the timeline towards reaching the SDGs, I think it’s high time for the country to accelerate those plans,” she said.
Saskia told this to Bernama when met after the launching ceremony of “Towards Ending Child Marriage in Malaysia” — Advocacy Brief in Bahasa Malaysia” during the Human Rights Day Forum 2022 held here, Monday.
She also pointed out that Malaysia should also move forward in implementing the Alternative to Detention (ATD) pilot project aimed at releasing unaccompanied and separated children in immigration detention centres nationwide.
It is imperative for Malaysia to further implement the commitment which Malaysia made as its pledge when it became the member of the Human Rights Council for the 2022 to 2024 term, she added.
“Though the pilot project had started in February this year, but the progress has stalled to date.
“With the one-year timeline of the pilot coming to an end, it is hoped that the new government will implement the ATD pilot as a matter of priority,” she said.
As of July 12 this year, there were 1,764 children (996 boys, 768 girls) out of 17,703 detainees in immigration detention centres nationwide.
Previous official data from the Home Ministry indicated that in October 2020, there were 405 children without guardians detained in immigration detention centres.
The ATD pilot jointly led by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development and the Ministry of Home Affairs was first announced in 2019 and approved by Cabinet in 2021.
Children detained in immigration detention may include refugee and asylum-seeking children, migrant children and children who may be victims of trafficking.
Themed “Strengthening and Enhancing Human Rights Towards Leaving No One Behind”, the half a day Human Rights Forum was co-organised by the Legal Affairs Division at the Prime Minister’s Department, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and the UN in Malaysia.
Conducted in hybrid form and streamed online, the forum was graced by Yang Di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir. — Bernama
