AS of June this year, 1,733 members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have been sent to a rehabilitation camp run by the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), the prime minister said in a parliamentary written reply.

The Mukhayyam programme is a government initiative aimed at getting LGBT people to change their lifestyle or sexual orientation.

“The government is serious about the issue of LGBT people in the country as Malaysia is a country that adheres to the religion of Islam.

“Any individual who violates the law must face action. Nevertheless, at the same time, they need to be guided and be made aware so that they can return to the right path,” Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in response to a question from Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (Kapar-PH).

Sani had asked the prime minister on the steps the government had taken to address the LGBT community in Malaysia.

The prime minister wrote in reply that the camp participants were taught religion and health, including HIV/AIDS, by Jakim .

“As of June 2021, 1,733 participants from the LGBT group have attended Jakim’s Mukhayyam programme, which is a collaboration between various state Islamic departments, the Health Ministry and state religious councils and the zakat authorities.”

Other government initiatives to “rehabilitate” LGBT people are an Islamic social action plan offering guidance and support, social services centres, the MyCare Cov.19 hotline for counselling, and reading materials. – September 15, 2021.