The National Registration Department’s (NRD) requirement for a MyKad to register marriages was a flawed procedural requirement that was practised over 40 years.
This, Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Saraswathy Kandasami said, rendered more than 10,000 babies stateless.
The department’s Quality Procedure MS ISO 9001:2015 was the last of its standard operating procedure (SOP) which requires couples to produce identification documents like their MyKad, MyPR, MyKAS or their passport in order to register their marriages.
“The flawed procedural requirement was rectified when NRD issued a circular to put a stop to the stringent requirement in 2021.
“Couples can now use their birth certificates or their adoption certificates to register their marriages,” the Dewan Negara senator said.
However, Sarawathy said the generational statelessness that arose from the flawed procedural requirement imposed by the NRD must be addressed.
Speaking at a public forum organised by the Malaysian Bar titled “Malaysians without ICs and Statelessness”, the deputy minister said the department only realised its mistake after four decades.
Saraswathy and other panellists at the forum were visibly moved and choked with emotions as they shared their experiences dealing with the plight of the stateless in Malaysia.
Among those who shared their experiences were Development of Human Resources in Rural Area (DHRRA) social protection director Maalini Ramalo, Bar Council Human Rights Committee chairperson Larissa Ann Louis and Lawyer Kamek for Change director Simon Siah.
‘Cruelty’
The then-NRD director-general Ruslin Jusoh, in his 2021 circular, explained that according to the Marriage and Divorce Act 1976 (Act 164), MyKad was not a condition imposed to register a marriage.
“Basically, it was just a procedural requirement to comply with an ISO standard that ruined the lives of thousands of children.
“This is not just an error. It is cruelty,” Saraswathy declared.
She also said the grandchildren of the babies who were the first generation to be denied citizenship because of this procedural error, faced the biggest challenge.
“Even if she gets married to a Malaysian citizen, her child will never be able to get citizenship,” Saraswathy explained.
She added that Act 164 came into force in 1982, and if NRD had allowed couples to register their marriages using their birth certificates, thousands of children would be Malaysian citizens by now.
To rectify the situation, Saraswathy said the present administration has strong political will to address the matter and she was dedicated to the cause.
In August, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said there were more than 140,000 citizenship applications received by his ministry, of which 9,000 had been processed, including applications that had been approved.
The ministry had set a target to approve at least 10,000 applications this year. - Mkini
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