Stateless people have heart-to-heart with Muhyiddin

A group of stateless people and their Malaysian parents had a heart-to-heart with Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in a closed-door dialogue in Putrajaya today.

Klang MP Charles Santiago, who was present at the session, said they related the difficulties they faced in having lived in the country all their lives but not being recognised as citizens.

Psychological distress, in particular, is a big concern to the group, who dubbed themselves the Stateless Children Family Support Group (SCFSG).

"Some among us are going through psychological distress because our children have already shown suicidal tendencies," the group said in a memorandum they handed to Muhyiddin.

Elaborating on this, Santiago said the stateless children were stressed over their uncertain future.

They live in fear since they don't have access to (citizenship) papers. They can't get married and they can't get a loan.

"These stateless children are facing a bleak future even though it is not their fault," he said.

One of the stories Santiago related to Malaysiakini from the dialogue was that of a woman who found an abandoned child outside her home 27 years ago.

The child became a daughter to her, but because of her statelessness, she cannot get married, and may consign any children she may have to the same fate.

"Another person who spoke was this five-year-old girl. She knows the Rukun Negara and said 'I want to be Malaysian, but please tell me how to do it'," he said.

The DAP lawmaker said Muhyiddin was sympathetic to their plight, relating that he too had relatives who adopted children and face similar difficulties.

Citizenship for persons not recognised as citizens can be granted through Article 15 and Article 19 of the Federal Constitution, that is through registration or naturalisation.

It can also be granted via Article 15A, which allows the federal government to register anyone under age 21 as a citizen.

Santiago said that Muhyiddin told those at the dialogue that he aimed to resolve the cases being reviewed under Article 15A by year-end.

Meanwhile, SCFSG also made a list of demands for the government, including among others:

• Granting citizenship to children if either parent is Malaysian regardless of marital status or if they were born in or out of Malaysia,
• To confer nationality on children adopted by Malaysian parents,
• To ensure that abandoned and foundling children born in Malaysia are protected with citizenship.

Stateless kids have a right to nationality, says group

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of family members of stateless children today launched an online petition urging Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to study and approve the citizenship applications of stateless Malaysian children, legally adopted children and abandoned children within one year.

The Family Support Group for Stateless Malaysian Children acknowledged, however, that these children should meet the constitutional requirement for one of their parents to be a Malaysian.

“We are saddened by the fact that our stateless Malaysian children face daily discrimination and abuse just because they are denied possession of any identity document.

“Their right to education and healthcare has been severely violated. No children deserve such undignified treatment,” it said, adding that the country’s democratic institutions “have failed us for years”.

In a statement today, it expressed hope that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government would keep its election promise to resolve the issue of stateless people by reforming laws and regulations regarding citizenship applications to prevent any recurrence of such cases.

They said the government should comply with international human rights standards, adding that the right of stateless Malaysian children to a nationality is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“We wish to highlight that many parents are frustrated by the opaque and arbitrary decision-making process in citizenship application.

“The National Registration Department (NRD) often rejects applications without giving any reason and justification, allowing applications only through constitutional provision 15A which confers absolute discretion to the minister in approving or rejecting the application.

“Therefore, we call upon the PH government to stop such a non-flexible practice and red tape. The new government must ensure transparency in processing citizenship applications by providing explicit reasons when the NRD rejects an application.”

The Family Support Group for Stateless Malaysian Children is the initiative of a group of Klang family members who have been fighting for the right to citizenship for their stateless children for years.

After years of legal battles, three stateless children get citizenship

PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): It's a joyous day for three stateless children who were born in Malaysia as the Home Affairs Ministry has agreed to register them as citizens of Malaysia.

Lawyer Datuk Dr Cyrus Das informed the court that they received the letters from the ministry Thursday (Feb 14) morning, approving citizenship for the three boys under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution.

He, however, requested an assurance that the children's birth certificates also be amended as they were in red and carried an endorsement "bukan warganegara" (non-citizen).

The Home Ministry's legal adviser Mohammad Al-Saifi Hashim confirmed the matter and said due process would take place after the minister grants their citizenship under special circumstances.

Das represented the families of the two teenage boys, aged 17 and 18 years, while lawyer Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram appeared for the family of an eight-year-old boy.

The families of the three children have brought their cases to the court for declaration after the children were denied citizenship.

The teenagers, whose birth parents are unknown, were separately adopted by two Malaysian couples while the eight-year-old boy was born to a Malaysian father and a Thai mother who were not legally married when he was born.

Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop, who led the bench, subsequently struck out the appeals and reference applications after Das and Sri Ram respectively informed the court that they were withdrawing the appeals and reference applications.

On Sept 11, 2017, the Federal Court granted the leave to appeal on several legal questions including whether the reference to blood or lineage was required under the Federal Constitution in determining the citizenship of a child.

The other judges presiding on the bench were Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim, Federal Court judges Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed, Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin, Datuk Rohana Yusuf, Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Tan Sri Idrus Harun and Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan. – Bernama

PEMASTAUTIN TETAP - 60 TAHUN KE ATAS DIBERI KEWARGANEGARAAN [14 OGOS 2018]

Pemegang kad pengenalan merah berusia 60 tahun ke atas pelbagai bangsa secara automatik akan diberi status kewarganegaraan. Jelas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, perkara itu adalah antara keputusan yang dibuat berdasarkan janji Pakatan Harapan dalam manifesto

Half of citizenship applications still being processed

KUALA LUMPUR: Close to half of the applications for Malaysian citizenship since 2013 are still being processed, the Dewan Rakyat was told.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman said a total of 111,142 applications were made between 2013 and 2018, of which only 24,327 have been approved.

“A total of 26,222 have been rejected, 7,371 were cancelled and 54,222 are still being processed,” he said, here today.

Mohd Azis explained that consideration for each application, based on the facts and documents provided by the applicants, were done meticulously on a case-by-case basis according to a “first come, first out” policy.

In addition, he said every citizenship application would be processed in accordance to the standard operating procedure (SOP) that has been stated in Part Three of the Federal Constitution, the Citizenship Rules 1964 as well as other relevant legislation.

“This include marriage registration, the status of the child, and immigrations regulations, among others,” he said.

Mohd Azis was responding to Steven Choong Shiau Yoon’s (PH-Tebrau) question on the number of citizenship applications in the five years since 2013 and what initiatives were being taken by the ministry to expedite and solve issues of delayed applications.

To this, the minister said the ministry is currently improving its SOP, including taking into account other aspects of the applicants, such as their welfare.

“We will do this without neglecting the security and harmony of our existing Malaysia citizens,” he added.

On a supplementary question that the requirement to sit for a Malay language exam as part of the criteria to be a Malaysian citizen was proving to be a stumbling block for many, Mohd Azis said leeway would be given for certain special cases.

“We won’t be as strict if we know the person is either born in Malaysia or has stayed in the country for tens of years. However, they still need to know basic Malay language,” he said.

3.2mil non-citizens among Malaysia’s population of 32.6mil

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s population this year is estimated at 32.6 million, up from 32.4 million last year, according to the Statistics Department.

The Chief Statistician, Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, said that 29.4 million are Malaysian citizens and 3.2 million non-citizens.

On the sex ratio, there are 107 males per 100 females, with the male population at 16.8 million, while the female population is 15.8 million, he said.

He said the composition of the population age from 0-14 in 2019 dropped to 23.3%, from 23.8% last year, while the percentage of those aged 65 and above rose to 6.7% from 6.5% last year.

Based on the National Senior Citizens’ Policy, the aging population occurs when the percentage of senior citizens or those aged 60 and above reached 15% of the total population, he added.

The statistics for this year showed a rise in the percentage of those aged 60 and above, at 10.3%, compared with 10% last year.

“Malaysia is expected to experience an aging population in 2030 with the percentage of people aged 60 and above at 5.3%,” he added.

Mohd Uzir said 20% of the total population are in Selangor, followed by Sabah (12%) and Johor (11.6%).

The Bumiputera population recorded an increase of 0.2% to 69.3%, while the Chinese ethnic group comprised 22.8%, down from 23%. The proportion of the Indian community remained at 6.9% and other ethnic groups at 1%.