PETALING JAYA: The parole system introduced in Malaysia in 2008 has seen 98% of parolees joining the workforce, says Prisons Depart-ment director-general Datuk Ibrisam Abdul Rahman,

       He said up to Wednesday, a total of 41,179 individuals have been employed.

       “They were employed either through our arrangement or found jobs themselves.

       “The transition back into the community was eased through our reintegration programme,” he said at a virtual roundtable discussion by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) yesterday.

       Ibrisam said the rate of recidivism was a mere 0.44% and hoped that following the success of the reintegration programme, it could be further diversified along with more support from the community and government.

       He stressed that there must be government policies and better social welfare programmes that assist former convicts to reintegrate into society.

       The parole system was introduced to address issues of recidivism in former convicts and as well as to tackle prison overcrowding.

       Meanwhile, lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, who was representing the all-party parliamentary reform group, said any criminal justice system must incorporate a comprehensive reintegration policy.

       “Without the final process of reintegrating them back into society, the process is incomplete,” she said, adding that the failure to provide support in the early weeks of a parolee’s release had appeared to be a cause for convicts to reoffend.

       Sangeet said a structured government policy on reintegrating former convicts was needed, describing it as a crucial element of the nation’s criminal justice system.

       “It must also involve the participation of relevant ministries, agencies and have adequate funding,” she added.

       Sangeet said the government and private sector should also work in providing employment for parolees as most reintegration efforts were being pursued by NGOs that often had issues with funding.

       “The reintegration process must not be seen as charity. It has to be a government initiative.

       “It is also essential to point out that a failed reintegration is a threat to public safety,” she added.

       Malaysian Care community development coordinator Sam Lim said most former convicts struggle to obtain a steady job, given the general reluctance to hire a person with a criminal record, limited level of education, limited work experiences and inadequate job skills.

       “One of the former inmates I met said he has been peddling drugs all his life and he has no other skills. The facilitator and I were taken aback,” he added.

       Lim said the public must also understand that parolees must not be sidelined and ostracised by society in their process of being reintegrated back into society.

       “If we look back at the statistics, the number of people coming into society as ex-offenders will increase each year.

       “So I would like to call on everyone to look at this point (importance of reintegrating parolees into society). So we as a society better understand and accept them,” he added.