'Where are our children?' Parents desperately searching for children after swoops on GISBH centres

A group of parents whose children were among the hundreds taken by authorities in a series of raids on Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holding (GISBH) care centres have denied claims by police chief Razarudin Husain that they never came forward to claim their children.

Instead, they say the authorities have yet to provide any information about the whereabouts of their children nearly a month after the raids.

A single mother, who asked only to be identitied as Nur, said her daughter was among children in a care home in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, when it was raided.

She said she was contacted by an investigating officer three days after her daughter was taken away by the Social Welfare Department (JKM).

"The IO told me that my daughter was at JKM in Putrajaya. But when I got there, the officers told me that she was not there. I then went to JKM centres in Cyberjaya and Klang but still could not find her.

"I was then given a phone number to contact but my calls were not returned," Nur told MalaysiaNow.

Nur said she felt like she was "thrown around like a ball" in her desperate search for her daughter.

"The IO said the case had been handed over to JKM, but JKM said police were still investigating the case

Last month, police revealed shocking details of how children were sexually abused at GISBH-run care centres, including how they were forced to sodomise and assault other children.

In joint raids by police and various authorities, 600 children aged between seven months and 17 years were found to have been victims of neglect, sexual abuse and indecent acts.

GISBH is run by former members and followers of the Al-Arqam group, a Muslim cult group that was banned in 1994 under the government of Dr Mahathir Mohamad after being declared deviant by religious authorities.

It is currently under investigation under Child Act. Sexual Offences Against Children Act, Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act as well as the Penal Code.

Earlier, Razarudin had stated that GISBH members had not approached authorities to claim the hundreds of children taken out of the care homes, adding that police believed they were trying to shield GISBH which presented the children as orphans to solicit donations from the public.

"It is possible that many of them did not know that their children had been rescued in the raids.

"There may be parents who do not acknowledge the children are theirs as the GISBH management claims the children are orphans," Razaruddin said.

Nur, however, is not a member of GISBH.

She said her 10-year-old daughter was placed in a boarding school, adding that she had not faced any problems.

Nur disagreed with the use of the term 'rescue" in the media's coverage of the raid and also disputed the authorities' statements.

"What do they mean by rescue? Till now, there has been no update. I don't know where they have sent my daughter and I have already been to the police and JKM.

"Not once have they allowed me to meet or contact her. I don't even know if she is still alive or not. I'm asking JKM to co-operate," Nur said.

The father of a seven-year-old child who was taken from a centre in Bukit Beruntung, Selangor, said he had not seen his son for more than three weeks after the raids.

He said he had planned to take his son home for a family party on the day the authorities stormed the centre, but found the dormitory deserted.

The former GISBH employee said he was told to go to the police station to give his statement and to wait for a call within a week.

"It was only later that the police officer told me that I had to contact JKM. I had already submitted all the necessary documents: Marriage certificate, birth certificate, MyKid and so on.

"JKM says they got a court order to look after our child for two months. Why extend two more months?

"What's the point of us coming to give information to claim the child. Does not that count as claiming?" he asked.

According to him, his wife, who is pregnant, is now suffering from depression because she does not know how her son is doing.

"She rages and cries almost every night at the thought of our son's fate," he added.

MalaysiaNow is trying to get a response from the police and JKM regarding the allegations.

'They came for our children's clothes'

Another father, who only wanted to be identified as Ahmad, recalled the last time he saw his three children, aged 2, 8 and 11.

He said his family had been detained in Klang, Selangor.

"I, my wife and our children were taken to the police training centre in Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur, after the police raid on the morning of Sept 11.

"We were told that our children had to undergo a health check-up. After that, JKM took our children away.

"Half an hour later, officers arrived and demanded the children's clothes without taking the personal details of their relatives. They did not take our phone numbers or ask for the children's names and so on," he said.

Like Nur, Ahmad also said that he was "kicked around like a ball" while searching for his children.

"My brother, whose son was detained by Johor JKM, was allowed to make a video call. But JKM Selangor and Malaysia have remained silent and have not given any explanation," he said.

Ahmad disagrees with Razarudin's claim that the parents were not admitting the children are theirs, calling it an extreme accusation.

"We have done our part by approaching the IO and asking the police what to do. Our representatives met with JKM but we were kicked around like a ball," he said.

Another woman who was arrested in Klang said that she and another detained GISBH member were forced to sign a document without knowing its contents.

"It was only after we signed that the police officer told us that it was an arrest warrant. The reason for the arrest was not mentioned," he said.

Nur is helpless when she thinks about the fate of her son and says that she does not trust the authorities.

"Some friends who went to pick up their children were arrested instead," she said, adding that she had to spend RM3,000 to bail out her younger brother, who was arrested by police.