MalayMail-July 24
Muslim parents in Malaysia were more concerned about their child being abducted and taken away by the other parent in 2021 and 2022 compared to previous years, the latest data from Sisters in Islam (SIS) shows. In its 2022 report on its free legal advice service Telenisa on Islamic family law, SIS said Muslim parents who looked for help on child custody issues usually mention custody disputes in court, visitation rights and child abduction. But of the parents facing child custody issues, SIS noted that the percentage who mentioned custody disputes drastically went down from 52 per cent in 2020 to just one per cent in 2021 and zero per cent in 2022. Instead, the percentage of parents who mentioned child abduction issues shot up from nine per cent in 2020 to 29 per cent (2021) and to 24 per cent (2022).Even in previous years, lower percentage of child abduction issues were also recorded at 14.7 per cent (2017), 11 per cent (2018), and 10 per cent (2019), Telenisa’s records show. This means concerns about child abduction in 2021 and 2022 is the highest-ever in these six years. Based on the data for the years 2020 to 2022, SIS executive director Rozana Isa said parents “are risking to take a more desperate approach, eventually engaging in the violation of rights and laws”. “The authorities should manage such phenomenon equipped with more awareness and wisdom about why parents make such decisions. There is a need to identify the most suitable actions to ensure the welfare of the child is protected. It is always the welfare and the rights of the child that will be affected in the long run,” she said in the Telenisa Statistics and Findings 2022. Telenisa said there has been an increasing phenomenon of parents abducting their own children into another country. Read more at:
