The children are currently under the care of the social welfare department (JKM) after being rescued by the police from welfare homes linked to GISBH following raids conducted last month.

“We urge the government and authorities to permit us to participate in managing the children’s welfare. We are willing to adhere to any rules imposed,” GISBH’s lawyer Rosli Kamaruddin said at a press conference here.

“There are over 500 children managed by JKM. Can they effectively care for that many? Please allow the families to help.”

In early September, police raided welfare homes that the authorities linked to GISBH and rescued 402 children, some of whom were allegedly sodomised and coached to sexually assault others.

Since then, more than 600 children have been rescued from GISBH-linked welfare homes.

Separately, Rosli urged the authorities not to probe the GISBH officials under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

“They are not terrorists. If the investigation is about religious practices, then let the religious department probe them,” he said.

More than 300 people associated with GISBH, including its top management, were detained in recent operations to clamp down on the company’s activities across the country.

Last Thursday, Bukit Aman criminal investigation department (CID) director Shuhaily Zain said 58 individuals linked to GISBH, including its CEO, have been arrested under Sosma to facilitate ongoing investigations.

Multinational company

At the press conference today, Rosli also asked authorities to allow other GISBH enterprises to resume their operations as they were legitimate businesses.

The company reportedly owns supermarkets, minimarkets, bakeries, restaurants and other businesses in Malaysia, the Middle East, Europe and China.

GISBH previously said it had discarded its former image as the business wing of Al-Arqam, a cult movement declared deviant by the National Fatwa Council in 1994, and is currently positioned as a multinational company.