“This didn't happen in 1963. However, now with 3.5 million migrants here, it has changed the landscape of our country’s composition. So, this amendment we are going to propose is to prepare us.” - Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail
The opening quote is the key, you see. This is all about the “country’s composition” in a changing geopolitical landscape. This is also about a political ideology borne not out of democratic principles but rather fascistic ideas.
This is why the amendment changes “operation by law” to “citizenship by registration”, which essentially means that a class of bureaucrats from the low levels to the upper echelons would determine the destinies of children and foundlings instead of fidelity to the constitution.
As it is, these factotums of the state are mired in all kinds of racial and religious imperatives that make it extremely difficult for stateless children and foundlings to be recognised as citizens of the state.
This is an issue that has been going on for decades. As it is, we have enough Malaysians who are having it rough because successive elected governments are more interested in maintaining power through race and religion than in actually formulating policies that would help all Malaysians.
All these Malay uber alles political operatives are now discovering that decades of religious and immigration malfeasances have resulted in a polity that is competing with a host of migrants in a time of political unrest.
Political fodder
And the resentment is slowly bubbling to the top. This is why we have articles in the foreign media about how once-welcomed refugees are being harassed online and in the streets of urban areas in Malaysia.
And stateless or refugee children are open to all forms of abuse and because they do not have the protection of citizenships, they become fodder for political operatives.
Remember two years ago, when MCA Beliawanis (Wanita MCA Young Women Bureau) chief Ivone Low Yi Wen called beggar refugee children aggressive, arrogant, and ungrateful?
Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said claimed that we should not blame the children because it was the country that failed them.
Well actually, no, the “country” did not fail to protect them. The political apparatus of this country failed to protect them as it has failed with a great many issues.
Depending on the racial and class structure of the country, a certain section does not want them here, another section is using them for political mileage, and another section probably thinks that open borders are a good thing.
The costs of statelessness
But make no mistake. What these amendments do is create a permanent generational underclass in this country. What do you think happens to these children and foundlings when they are not granted citizenship?
Well, the first thing is that they are not accorded the full protection of the law as regular citizens of this country. When this happens they become prey to all manner of interests.
Saifuddin talked about costs a lot. He talked about how much the rakyat are paying to house and feed undocumented migrants for instance.
What he did not mention is how much it would cost the rakyat when these stateless children advance in age and when they are denied rights that could make them economically independent and productive members of society. Think of the costs then.
Not only will the state feed and house them for whatever reasons, ranging from criminal to civil, but also this generational underclass would fuel a black economy which would involve not only big business, the political class, and of course, the state security apparatus.
What we are dealing with here is an underclass which would enable the worst excesses of the political class and culture of this country.
How much money has been spent taking care of these stateless peoples, especially in the urban areas, while the Malay heartland has been left to its own devises beyond putting in more stringent regulations and enforcement?
Ideal for human trafficking
But of course, the greatest danger stateless people and children have in this country is being preyed upon by human traffickers with the complicity of state actors.
Keep in mind, stateless people are easier to move than citizens of a country, and does anyone really think that the state security apparatus would care for trafficked stateless people?
And in this country, as Wang Kelian reminded us, everyone gets touched. In 2019, then executive director of the human rights NGO Tenaganita, Glorene A Das, reminded the powers that be to also investigate the individuals (including those who may be politically linked) who were behind the cover-up of Wang Kelian.
“The reported cover-up of the activities of human trafficking syndicates and the annihilation of vital evidence needs to be explained; those involved in it should be brought to justice, without fear or favour,” she said.
Of course, if these stateless children and foundlings are of a specific religion and would be entitled to certain entitlements if they were citizens, the cost could go down.
We live in a country where race is defined constitutionally and you can bet your last ringgit that the money train is running low, hence the need to cut back on unnecessary expenses.
As it is, the religious apparatus that is riddled with corruption has, over the years, been taking on the additional burden of minding and using various Muslim migrant communities.
Indeed this generational underclass is perfectly suited for cheap labour and other kinds of work that do not attract the interest of regular citizens. And because they do not have the protection of citizenship it is not as if they could complain to anyone, right?
Who knows there may come a day when we do not look to other countries for cheap labour, because we have homegrown cheap, disposable labour here.
Anyone who knows me understands that I fall into the Malaysia First camp when it comes to these types of issues.
When we have stateless Orang Asal, Indians, Chinese, and not to mention children of one immigrant parent born out of wedlock, the system is rigged against those fighting for these children and people but even I am horrified by these proposed amendments.
What is the political class thinking? - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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