Prisons deputy commissioner-general Ibrisam Abd Rahman hoped that NGOs would step forward to help provide transit houses for these former inmates, as well as prisoners released on parole.

“The department needs a transit home specifically to place female inmates who have been released but have no family or home to return to.

“They need a place to stay temporarily while looking for a job,” he said in a speech at the “Youturn Day: Welcoming Prisoners Back to the Society” event organised by Suhakam and an NGO named Malaysian Care.

Suhakam commissioner Noor Aziah Awal said the same issue was raised when she visited a prison in Sabah, which had requested stakeholders to work on providing transit houses.

“From what I know, the women, family and community development ministry’s budget is not enough to sustain the cost and maintenance of such transit houses.

“So, NGOs and the prisons department have to work together to solve the issue,” she said.

Meanwhile, Malaysian CARE executive director Alvin Lim said they will be helping the Catholic Prison Fellowship Association to start a halfway home for female former inmates in the Klang Valley.

He said, based on their experience, it would cost about RM20,000 a month to maintain the halfway home. This includes hiring three permanent workers to look after the home and its residents.