KUCHING: Selangau Member of Parliament (MP) Baru Bian has questioned why only 198 citizenship applications for children under the age of 18 from Sarawak and Sabah in the last five years.
He said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin told the Parliament yesterday that a total of 9,259 citizenship applications were received for children under the age of 18 from Sarawak and Sabah from 2017 and February 15 this year.
“Only 198 applications have been approved, which is 2.13 per cent of the total applications received,” he said in a statement today.
“This also means that the Home Ministry approved 40 applications per year, meaning out of 100 applicants, only two are expected to receive good news – which is dismal and outrageous.”
“What is the reason for the appallingly low approvals?” he questioned.
Baru said Sarawakian and Sabahan children without citizenship were deprived of a normal life where they can receive healthcare, education and employment in the future.
Apart from that, he was disappointed that the Home Minister did not give an answer to his question on the citizenship applications from the former Border Scouts who were now very old and frail.
“There is no excuse or justification for this long and torturous wait that is being inflicted on these men, who had served to protect their country. It is puzzling that the government cannot do this one simple thing,” he said.
“They are at the sunset of their lives – it makes a mockery of the Keluarga Malaysia
concept trumpeted by this government,” he added.
Baru, who is also the Ba Kelalan assemblyman, said it was not surprising that many Sarawakians want the autonomy to determine citizenship status for its people, in addition to education and healthcare.
He claimed that the people (officers) at the federal ministries seem to be so remote from the realities on the ground for Sarawakians, especially those who live in the rural areas.
“On the subject of education, in response to the question on our ‘stateless’ children being denied
schooling, the Education Ministry said that it was because of an executive directive. There is no
reason why the directive cannot be changed to allow these children to go to school.”
“What was the reason for the directive in the first place? It does not make any sense at all,” he said.
Baru said the government, by its action and inaction in these cases, was depriving the people of their fundamental rights to citizenship, education and healthcare, which are guaranteed under the
Federal Constitution.
“These young children and our old folks are the most vulnerable of our people and they do not have a voice. That does not mean that the government should show such callous disregard for them – in fact, a sincere and caring government would go the extra mile to help them,” he stressed.
