Children In Custody Cases Trapped Between Two Systems Says Activist

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Hartini Zainudin highlights the problems caused by Malaysia's failure to sign an international convention, and confusion caused by the dual court system.
Hartini Zainudin said child custody cases involving abductions are not mere matters of family disagreements.PETALING JAYA: Failure to sign an international convention has hampered efforts to solve cases of children in custody disputes being taken across borders, says child rights activist Hartini Zainudin
Children were left unprotected because custody disputes involving abductions were often dismissed in Malaysia as “domestic matters”, she said.
Malaysia’s dual court system has also led to confusion and custody orders not being enforced, as while one parent may be granted custody by a civil court, the other may get a conflicting order from a shariah court.

“Neither court acknowledges the other’s jurisdiction, leaving the child trapped between two systems that won’t cooperate,” she told FMT.
Hartini said such cases are not mere family disagreements but situations involving fear and the loss of a child’s sense of safety.
“That’s the reality we live with – where children caught in the middle of custody battles are treated as collateral damage,” she said.
She said failure to sign the Hague convention on international child abduction left children at risk. The convention protects children from being wrongfully taken across international borders by one parent or guardian.
It also seeks to secure their prompt return, and protect custody and access rights under the laws of one member country from being undermined by a parent taking the child to another country.
Hartini was commenting on the case of Singaporean mother Daylin Limonte Alvarez, who claims her seven-year-old son was abducted by his father and taken to Malaysia.
She had been granted sole custody of the child by the shariah courts in both Singapore and Johor Bahru but his father, Luqman Liang Hsien Masood allegedly took him to Johor Bahru in May 2024.
Luqman has been ordered to return the boy to Limonte, and a Nur Alert has been issued to help locate him, with Johor Bahru Selatan police chief Raub Selamat having said that investigations are continuing.
Suhakam open to discussing case with AGC
Suhakam, the human rights commission, has said it is open to discussing the case with the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
Suhakam said Malaysia could work with Singaporean authorities under international law to secure the safe return of children in such cases.
If the child is in Malaysia, government enforcement agencies must work together with gazetted child protectors to immediately bring the child before a children’s court.
“The most pressing priority should be the child’s well-being, as they are the ones most affected,” the commission said in a statement to FMT.
The Child Act makes it an offence to remove a child from a country without the consent of the person with legal custody. Offenders may be fined up to RM10,000, jailed for up to five years’, or both. - FMT

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