PKR leaders brought 41 cases of children who are unable to obtain their Malaysian (blue) identity cards and thus have been deprived of getting an education to the state National Registration Department (JPN) on Jalan Anson in Penang today.
They also highlighted two cases of adults without blue ICs.
Speaking to reporters at the JPN, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin said the lives of the 41 children have been "severely affected" as they could not attend school without a blue IC.
"The government must provide a path to citizenship. I want to change that to “a path to a blue IC” because they are, in actual fact, citizens, according to the constitution.
"But due to the failure of federal government policies, especially at the Home Ministry (KDN), they couldn’t get their deserved blue ICs," Sim (photo) said.
"This is an absolute failure of the system to uphold constitutional rights".
It is learnt that the state JPN will duly process the applications for ICs today, but the decision is still under the purview of the Home Minister.
Sim held Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi accountable for "causing so much suffering" for these Malaysians.
"They deserve a better government who will recognise their right to citizenship and their right to education," he stressed.
"It is a failed system because thousands of people are suffering out there at the mercy of one person. We need a reform of the system," he added.
Accompanying Sim at the JPN were Padang Serai MP N Surendran (photo) and Penang Island City councillor Kumaresan Arumugam, who oversees PKR's bureau on statelessness in Penang.
Having stated that there are an estimated 300,000 people without ICs, the Penang government has formed a task force to try and register those in the state but they face an uphill task as citizenship matters come directly under the purview of the Home Ministry in Putrajaya.
Meanwhile, Surendran said the children and teenagers are Malaysians but are deprived of an education in schools.
"We have 41 cases here, but there are many more out there. We do not know how many are out there, who are still unable to attend school though it is not their fault at all," he added.
Kumaresan (photo) urged the Home Ministry and Education Department to come up with a long-term solution to the matter.
Today, those affected were only given forms to complete and they have to return in two weeks to submit them to the JPN officers.
Kumaresan said although the parents of these children and teenagers may be stateless and are in the process of seeking citizenship, their journey is "long and arduous".
"It takes time to get citizenship for the parents. Meanwhile, what happens to the children?" he asked.
He also said there were cases where stateless students were granted a year's permission to attend school, up to Dec 31 this year.
"What are they going to do next year and the year after? I receive many calls from such students and parents seeking help for their plight.
"A long-term solution is definitely urgent and we hope the federal government will look into this immediately," Kumaresan added.- Mkini
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