KUCHING, Feb 19: Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (DAPSY) Kuching has criticised the Sarawak government for being unclear on the conditions and requirements for a child from mixed marriages to be considered a native.
In a statement today, the party branch took note that one of the purposes of the Interpretation (Amendment) Bill 2022 was to address the issue of children of mixed marriages who were denied native status even if one of their parents is non-native.
“Before this Bill, mixed native children have resorted to the Native Court to apply for ‘native’ status, and the process is excruciatingly long before the applicant receives the verdict. The Bill seems to suggest that it will solve this issue.
“While the initiative of the Bill is highly appreciated, however, this native status is not unconditional. In other words, mixed native children will not automatically be a native,” it said.
It further elaborated that the Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali, who was in charge of tabling the Bill during the DUN sitting recently, had stated that a child from a mixed marriage may be considered a native even if only one of their parents is a native.
However, this is subjected to the conditions and requirements imposed by the Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri (MMKN).
“The conditions and requirements are still unclear and undecided as of now as MMKN will only decide it after the Bill is passed.
“Instead of allowing such ambiguity, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) State government should be upfront and be clear on what are the conditions for mixed native children to qualify as ’natives’,” it said. — DayakDaily
