20-year-old granted citizenship after being stateless for 8 years

 

Earlier this month, Omar Mokhtar Abdul Rahman (right) and two other students met with UUM vice-chancellor Haim Hilman Abdullah who offered them a scholarship to study at the university. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: A 20-year-old can now look forward to a brighter future after finally being granted citizenship.

Lawyers for Liberty director Zaid Malek said the national registration department (JPN) had left Omar Mokhtar Abdul Rahman stateless when it turned down his application for an identity card when he was 12 years old.

“Omar is a top scoring student with a 4.0 GPA for his Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM),” Zaid said. “Omar is a Merdeka child born on Aug 31, 20 years ago.”

Omar had failed to obtain an identity card when he turned 12 because his application contained incomplete information on his birth mother, whom he had not seen since he was five years old.

Although his father is a Malaysian citizen, the incomplete information on Omar’s mother meant that JPN was unable to approve his application for an identity card, Kosmo reported.

FMT has sighted a letter issued by the home ministry, dated Sept 12, confirming that Omar has been granted citizenship.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Omar faced an uncertain future despite performing well in his STPM examination as he did not have an identity card.

He had been offered a scholarship and a chance to further his studies at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) but was unable to proceed.

Without an identity card, he is also unable to open a bank account or obtain a driver’s licence. - FMT