KUCHING: The home ministry should review the requirements for citizenship application by stateless individuals and extend the application period, Selangau MP Baru Bian said today.
He said the federal government should accept endorsements or statements from community leaders, state assemblymen and MPs as supporting documents for stateless individuals to apply for their citizenship with the National Registration Department (JPN).
“If they could provide proper documents and evidence for their application, they wouldn’t end up as stateless. Hence, the government should review such requirements,” he said in a statement today.
He added the government should not limit the application period to one year as many children in rural Sarawak were not documented due to the remoteness of their homes and the lack of transportation.
“We need a longer window period to resolve the issue as transport and communication remain the main challenges for rural folk.”
Baru, who is also the Ba’kelalan assemblyman, said his office had submitted many applications to JPN on behalf of stateless individuals since 2011, but with very little result.
He said besides the case of the seven former Sarawak Border Scouts who did not have citizenship despite being born in the country, there were other similar cases out there.
“These men are not eligible to receive any pension or allowance from the government for services rendered to the country despite having served with the border scouts from 1963 to 1967,” he said.
He urged the home ministry to grant citizenship for the seven border scouts – Basar Arun, Joseph Pengiran, Kademus Liling, Basar Paru, Tabed Raru, Baranabas Palong, and Sia Lupang – without any further delay. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.