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.