KUALA LUMPUR: An average of two kids were reported missing every day from 2020 until Sept this year.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said a total of 3,847 children under 18 years old were reported missing during that period but 96 per cent of them were found by police.
Of that, he said, 10 were found dead.
Females, he said, led the statistics at 74 per cent.
Selangor ranks first in terms of the number of cases, followed by Kedah in second place, and Johor third.
For the record, in 2020, there were 792 cases of missing children, 594 in 2021, 902 in 2022, 779 in 2023, and 780 up to Sept 2024.
This totals 3,847 cases, with an average of 770 cases per year, which is roughly 2 cases per day.
Out of the 3,847 cases, all involve children under 18 and police successfully located 96 per cent of them.
He said for every 100 missing children, 96 are found, and out of those found, 10 were deceased.
"The remaining cases are classified as still missing," he said in the Dewan Rakyat.
Saifuddin said a majority of those missing were aged between 13 and 15, making up 54 per cent, and those aged 16 to 18 account for 37 per cent.
The main reasons for children going missing include teenagers seeking freedom; following friends; following a romantic partner; and misunderstandings with family members.
Saifuddin said understanding these causes gives police's D11 Criminal Investigation Department the opportunity to mitigate efforts that can be taken to locate the children.
He added tracking a missing child involves three phases: before a missing incident, after it is reported, and post-recovery.
"We focus on awareness programmes. We conduct children's awareness campaigns, and we also run women's awareness campaigns. These awareness programmes are primarily targeted at the teenage age bracket we mentioned earlier.
"For the record, this year alone, we have carried out 457 awareness programmes involving 141,000 children," he said adding that more programmes were conducted in the top three states of missing children cases.
He was responding to a question by Muhammad Ismi Mat Taib (PN-Parit) on the efforts undertaken by the Home Ministry to address the increasing number of missing children cases, which have been recorded at an alarming rate of up to two cases per day from 2020 to 2024.
He said should a missing incident occur, the police would immediately activate their response toto spread information as widely as possible
"We use the Nur Alert, we upload the case to the missing children portal after obtaining permission from the parents or guardians, and we expand the search. Once the child is found, we then profile the child and their family.
"After the incident, we usually provide support, especially in terms of moral and psychological help, to the affected family.
He added that in terms of laws, the current legal framework is adequate.
"When we locate the child and create a profile, we find that the majority of investigations are opened under Section 306 of the Penal Code (rape), Section 305 (gang rape), while very few cases under Section 302 (murder) are opened, meaning that when the child leaves with friends or a romantic partner, they are mostly seeking freedom.
"The data shows that when children go missing from home and are reported missing, the investigations often lead to rape cases being opened.
"The current laws including the Penal Code are adequate," he said.