Unwanted in the only place they can call home

KOTA KINABALU: Last Malaysia Day, 36 babies were delivered at Likas Hospital alone.

Going by figures recorded in previous years, it’s fair to assume that at least 30% of these newborns were non-citizens and that their numbers will continue to rise. And if government policies don’t change, they’ll be stateless.

This is a cause of worry for Datu Mohd Akjan Datu Ali Muhammad, the national adviser for Suluk Sabah Mixed Blood United.

“Right now,” he told FMT, “we have at least 60,000 stateless people among the Suluk community alone. By 2030, this number will increase to 100,000 or 150,000, which means Sabah will have the biggest population of stateless people in the country.

“I don’t know the exact number of stateless people in other communities, but I know in some far-flung places, many of the Kadazandusun natives are also stateless.”

Almost every week, Akjan receives visitors at his office who complain that their birth certificate applications are delayed or rejected. And the reason would be that they happened to be Suluk, he alleged.

He spoke of a 43-year-old man who was born in Sandakan to Malaysian parents.

“The father had a genuine MyKad. He was born in 1942, even before Malaysia was formed. Yet, he was declared a non-citizen.

“He had to apply for citizenship, and it was granted to him in 2008 by the home ministry. However, when he went to the national registration department to get his birth certificate, the officer in charge said he had to make further investigations despite the citizenship certificate.

“Nine years later, he finally received his birth certificate, only to notice he had been declared a non-citizen.”

The birth certificate does not have any record of particulars about his parents. The officer was reported to have said this was because the parents’ records were not in the system.

Akjan is currently dealing with several similar cases. In one case, a man was declared a non-citizen although his parents and all his four siblings are MyKad holders.

He acknowledged that not all Suluks suffering such discrimination were born to Malaysians. Some are indeed children of immigrants.

“However, these children are innocent,” he said. “It was not their wish to be born stateless. Sabah is their only country. They love Sabah to death. If they were deported, say to the Philippines, even the officials in that country would not want them.”

He claimed that many of these stateless people had become victims of unscrupulous people, especially enforcement officials who would extort money from them.

In Kampung Likas, he said, enforcement officials would often arrest undocumented individuals and then persuade their parents or guardians to come up with at least RM1,000 to secure their release.

According to him, a similar thing happens in temporary detention centres, with caretakers asking for money in return for access to the detainees.

“They do not have a good education and only do menial tasks for minimal wages,” he said. “How can they afford thousands of ringgit every month?

“They work hard because they do not want to commit crimes. Yet, they become the scapegoats every time and are blamed for every crime that is committed.”

He said stateless children, if left without education, would grow up unable to contribute to society.

“I am sad to see these children left to their own devices,” he said. “Many have fallen into a life of crime.

“I urge the government to allow children of IMM13 holders who were born in Sabah to be given green cards or any other form of identification.

“I also appeal to the immigration department to give permanent-resident status to the 3,000 people whose applications have already been approved by the home ministry.

“I hope the government can help solve this humanitarian crisis that has befallen the Suluk community in Sabah.” -FMT