While most stateless cases involve those who fail to meet the deadline to access citizenship, Batu MP P Prabakaran said government bureaucracy is also part of the problem.
“Long processes in the National Registration Department (NRD), Immigration Department and the Home Ministry are also affecting the people.
“This is a distressing national issue affecting Malaysian families regardless of their socioeconomic status,” he said on Facebook yesterday.
He made the statement following a public consultation programme held at his constituency on March 19, where organisers recorded over 1,200 cases of locals having citizenship issues in just one day.
The programme, held with the assistance of National Registration Department (NRD) officers, attracted people from across the country.
Breaking down the issue, Prabakaran said one common problem faced by the stateless was the long-waiting period.
In some cases, applications for citizenship took over five years – causing severe mental agony to families.
“Due to the long wait and rejections in the first round of applications, families undergo mental stress. Plus, applications are limited to those below 21 years of age.
“As such, their future becomes bleak, with no effective pathway to citizenship,” he shared.
Other cases involved adults who were abandoned as children and grew up without documentation, and children born to Malaysian parents but left in care homes or with acquaintances - despite available documents to prove their nationality.
Prabakaran also highlighted cases of children deemed to have been born out of wedlock in Malaysia owing to difficulties registering a marriage to a foreign spouse and stateless children who had been adopted by Malaysians.
Foreign spouses, he added, were also having problems getting permanent residency or citizenship after the passing of their Malaysian spouses – despite having Malaysian children.
“In addition, we also have high numbers of stateless children from divorced parents, where the latter had failed to register for their MyKad when the former reached 12 years old,” Prabakaran added.
‘Parliament must address this’
As such, Prabakaran said he was working with the Immigration Department and the Home Ministry to address the issue.
As for the programme, Prabakaran said members from an NGO, Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas (DHRRA) had assisted him by recording cases originating from Sabah and pre-independence cases with relevant supporting documents.
For those without citizenship, the PKR lawmaker said they had submitted applications to NRD with the assistance of DHRRA.
“Meanwhile, we will get feedback from NRD on the existing applications.
“And I will take inputs from all these cases to Parliament to find a long-term solution,” said Prabakaran.
Earlier this month, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail revealed that 30 percent of children’s identification cards (MyKid) were left uncollected and urged parents or guardians to collect them before they get disposed of. - Mkini
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