KUCHING, March 2: Aspirasi wants the Sarawak government to set up the Department of Homeland Security to issue Sarawak identity cards with ‘K’ status to help resolve citizenship issues faced by stateless Sarawakians, especially children, instead of having to beg the Federal government for help.
Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo made this call in responding to the issues faced by stateless Sarawakians who are denied identity documents, citizenship, education and employment even though they may be born to one or both Sarawakian parents and have lived all their lives in Sarawak.
“Let Homeland Security Sarawak issue our own Identity Card with ‘K’ like our original Sarawak IC, and this shall be recognised as our Sarawak identity document for official purposes.
“The Department of Homeland Security would resolve problems faced by Sarawak’s domestic population in a systematised and expedient process in order to end the perennial heart-breaking stories of bona fide Sarawakians denied a place and identity in Sarawak.
“Homeland Security shall be a cabinet level executive department to be established and legislated in our DUN (State Legislative Assembly). No need to beg from the Federal government,” she said in a statement today.
Soo also pointed out that there is no reason for the Sarawak government to be denied access to any data on Sarawak population, and to make laws to protect its people which is the function and role of any responsible government.
“Statelessness should not be denied to any person born in Sarawak to one or two Sarawakian parents, or to Sarawakians by birthright but whose parents had been negligent in registering their births. This is inhuman and breaches human rights,” she added.
Apart from the purpose of resolving Sarawak statelessness, Soo emphasised that Homeland Security would also address security concerns where it can monitor all entries into Sarawak through its border.
“Homeland Security is about all hazards which pose a security threat, are natural or man-made which also encompasses immigration, labour, border control, maritime security, and natural disasters.
“A Homeland Security Department will ensure our effort to enable a homeland that is safe and secure where Sarawak rights, interests, aspirations and ways of live can thrive,” she said. — DayakDaily
