KUCHING: The Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Platform for Reform welcomes the Sarawak government’s initiative to issue temporary documentation for stateless children, to ensure they have the access to education and healthcare.
CSOs Sarawak chapter in a statement today said the government must prioritise temporary documents for stateless children to ensure they can attend school without further delay.
“Without such documents, their education will be delayed. Similarly, it is hoped that the temporary documents will improve the children’s access to healthcare.
“Although the temporary document is not a guarantee that they would obtain Malaysian citizenship, with this announcement, it is believed that the stateless children could access freely and safely public education and medical services which are crucial for their livelihood and survival,” CSOs said.
Apart from that, CSOs Sarawak said, the government need to make sure the application process would be publicly accessible and transparent, so that the people would be clear on how to apply; the progress of their case; the outcome and the reasons given if their application was rejected.
The government should involve relevant stakeholders including CSOs that have been working on this issue, to be a part of the team as this will help the government to reach all the relevant children across the various parts of Sarawak.
Meanwhile, according to Bill Jugah of the Independent Council of Natives (ICON), there are 900 cases that are still pending.
“Hence, we urged the government to expedite these cases by allocating the necessary resources to process these within a set time frame so all the affected children can speedily be accepted into schools.”
On April 9, Minister for Women, Childhood, and Community Wellbeing Development Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah announced that the Sarawak Premier’s Office will be issuing temporary documentation for individuals under the age of 21 who have not yet received their citizenship documents.
CSO Platform for Reform (Sarawak Chapter) was a part of CSO Platform for Reform, a coalition of 100 CSOs based in Malaysia, focusing on institutional reforms.
The statement issued by CSOs was endorsed by Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS), ICON, Terabai Kenyalang Heritage Association of Sarawak (TKHAS), Raban Pemansang Indu (RAPI), Lawyer Kamek 4 Change (LK4C), Sarawak AIDS Concern Society (SACS), Purplelily Social Association Kuching – Purple Lily, Pertubuhan IKRAM Negeri Sarawak, Persatuan Pemangkin Daya Masyarakat (ROSE), Kelab Dayak Pila Sibu (KDPS) and Persatuan Pendidikan D’wira Kuching.
