THE Negri Sembilan Social Welfare Department rescued four children, aged between seven months and seven years, who were abandoned and neglected in a house in Seremban, for the past three days.

State welfare director Rosnah Sardi said the department was informed by residents of the housing estate that four children – three boys and a girl – were abandoned by their mother while the father was in a police lock-up.

A United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) probe revealed that the parents of the children are Rohingya.

“The Seremban department received a report at 9.45pm on Monday on the case. The children, aged seven, five, two and seven months, were unattended when the report was made. I was informed that residents living nearby had provided food and taken care of their safety before handing over to the department,” she said when contacted by Bernama.

Rosnah said the four children were under the department’s care and would be handed to the parents later.

“The father of the children has been released from the lock-up but he is not in the right frame of mind to look ofter his kids now. The department will look after the children temporarily and hand over the duties to the father once he is ready,” she said.

She added that a police report had been lodged on the incident. – Bernama, December 6, 2023.