The government is willing to revise its long-standing policy of detaining child migrants together with adults who violate immigration laws, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad.

"If this what we need to look into and if there is the necessity, we will look into it.

"I am willing to meet with the ministers concerned, such as (Minister of Women and Family Development) Shahrizat Abdul Jalil in order to look closely into (the problem) and seek ways and means (to address it)," he added.

Radzi, who is the de facto law minister, said this at a press conference after delivering the keynote address at a forum in Kuala Lumpur on Monday entitled 'Reducing violence, harm and exploitation of children'.

The minister also acknowledged that the detention of children in immigration detention centres here was not consistent with the government's efforts to promote and protect the welfare of children elsewhere.

The two-day forum was jointly organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia and the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

While Malaysia is a signatory to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), it has not ratified the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

Therefore, immigration authorities do not distinguish between persons seeking asylum from situations of conflict or persecution and other migrants.

Special needs

Meanwhile, Suhakam commissioner Dr Raj Karim said she hoped efforts could be taken to ensure that the government recognises the special needs of children, especially child refugees.

Previously, the social welfare department, for example, seemed to have no role to play in the welfare of the children of undocumented migrants once the immigration authorities had custody of them.

Raj said the social welfare department and the immigration department should work together in order to ensure that such needs are met.

"There needs to be more coordination and better-defined boundaries of responsibility as the laws currently do not provide much of clarity in the matter," she added when met at the forum.