SIBU: The National Registration Department (JPN) is urged to explain and justify its basis for the delay in issuing MyKads to applicants who have been successfully granted citizenship.
Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) Political Education Bureau director Irene Chang said two of such cases—which DAP helped to apply and successfully obtained citizenship from the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN)—had yet to be issued their MyKads by JPN.
“The two applicants received their letter of approval for their citizenship application from KDN in February 2020 and October 2020 respectively and had proceeded to Sibu JPN to get their Certificate of Malaysia Citizenship soon after.
“Previously, successful applicants would only have to wait for two or three months for the national identity card to be processed and to be issued to them by JPN. However, for these two cases, the applicants have been waiting until today and their identity card is still not issued to them yet,” she said here on Monday (June 20).
The former Bukit Assek assemblywoman disclosed that, however in April 2022, the second applicant received a letter from Putrajaya JPN, which told him that his application would not be able to be processed unless and until he sends them “bukti keberadaan” (proof of presence) in Malaysia such as school records and confirmation from community leaders.
She felt that this was not right as what JPN was demanding from these applicants were in fact, documents to support the applicants’ eligibility to be conferred the citizenship.
She stated all these documents had already been submitted to KDN, which had approved their applications based on the documents.
Once KDN decided and approved the citizenship application, she said JPN had to follow the approval by issuing them the national identity cards.
According to her, both the above cases were applications made under Article 15A of Federal Constitution, which means that the applications were granted under special circumstances to those under 21 years old.
Hence, she pointed out that as long as the applicants had received their Certificate of Citizenship, JPN had no business delaying or refusing to issue their national identity card.
Furthermore, she stated that these applicants were legally adopted under the Sarawak Adoption Ordinance, which means that the District Office had already decided that they had Sarawak connection and residing in Sarawak.
“By requiring the bukti keberadaan again, is JPN, as a federal agency questioning or ignoring the authority of not only the KDN but also our state agency i.e. our District Office?”
Chang said the latest case of a former border scout who was denied ambulance transfer due to citizenship woe was a heart-breaking case.
She also pointed out that there was no point for ministers and government heads to only successfully address every individual case which may come into the attention of the media.
According to her, there were in fact hundreds of cases where the applicants and individuals involved preferred to shun publicity on their private and personal plight as they preferred to maintain their anonymity.
“However, in an increasing number of cases, they are finding that they need to pay the price of adverse publicity if they should ever hope for the citizenship and identity card to be granted and issued to them.
“Hence, for those who have already received their much awaited Certificate of Citizenship from KDN, JPN, as the last stop, should cut out all red tapes and bureaucracy and not delay or deny these people their national identity card, which is their most prized document to prove that they belong to this state and country,” Chang added.
