Batu MP: Apathy, bureaucracy affecting citizenship applications

Malaysiakini : 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.

Batu MP P Prabakaran (centre)

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’

BenHur : Long standing issue DSAI I hope you take a personal look on this. Home Affairs does not give significance to this

Siva1967 : I was a stateless child. I don't recall much of the agony my adaptors went through but the one thing I recall was the government officer asking me, are these your parents and are you happy to go home with them. I was 7 years old then. My obvious answer was, Yes.

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