A total of 402 children, aged between one and 17, were rescued after police raided 20 welfare homes in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
Police said 13 of these children are believed to have been sodomised while others were subjected to physical and emotional harm.
In a statement, the Child Rights Coalition Malaysia (CRCM) said the failure to provide for the wellbeing of such a large group of children in their care highlights the sad state of the quality of care provided by many shelter homes and care centres in Malaysia.
The statement, which was endorsed by 52 organisations and individuals, said many of the shelter homes and care centres in Malaysia are unlicensed and manned by insufficient and untrained staff, including child protectors without the relevant social work qualifications, expertise and experience under the social welfare department.
“This is further constrained by the unwillingness of the social welfare department to rope in relevant civil society organisations (CSOs) to jointly and effectively prevent, mitigate and respond to child sexual exploitation and abuse in alternative care arrangements and marginalised communities,” said CRCM.
“The Care Centres Act 1993 and its regulations provide only for minimum standards that all care centres are required to comply with.
“But with only 2,134 care centres registered with the social welfare department, there is no doubt that thousands more remain illegal and susceptible to risky care arrangements.
“This tragic situation underscores the urgent need for stricter oversight and regular audits of registered and unregistered institutional care centres across the country to prevent such atrocities from occurring in the future.”
CRCM also called on women, family and community development minister Nancy Shukri to collaborate with reputable NGOs specialising in child protection and alternative care to ensure the children are provided with safe spaces, trauma recovery support and long-term solutions for their well-being.
CRCM also urged the authorities to undertake a situational analysis of the social work services provided by the child development department, other ministries and CSOs to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
It also said recommendations should be made to strengthen the care arrangements of children in alternative care placements.
The government officially launched the child development department, which is an agency under the women, family and community development ministry, last month.
In a Bernama report on Aug 6, Nancy said the department was set up to expand delivery systems at community and institutional levels, as well as address child safety and welfare concerns, particularly abuse and neglect.
Nancy said the department will have its own enforcement officers tasked with handling specific cases involving children, adding that this was to address the backlog of cases currently handled by the social welfare department.