By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Oct 22: The Ministry of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development (KWKPK) will write in to the Ministry of Education (MOE), requesting for children who are in the process of applying for their Malaysian citizenship to be allowed to go to school.
KWKPK Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said there is proof to show that that these children are in the application process such as receipts and reference numbers from the National Registration Department (NRD).
“This is a way to ensure that our children are not left behind in their education. In the interim period, we would like the MOE to allow these children to be able to get an education.
“We will abide by whatever conditions set by the MOE and we will work together with the Home Ministry to furnish any information that they want as long as they allow the children to go to school,” she said after attending the presentation of letters of citizenship ceremony held at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar in Kuching today.
Fatimah added that individuals who wish to submit an application for citizenship must ensure that all the necessary documents are ready before they are submitted to the NRD and later to the Home Ministry for approval.
“I want to advise the applicants to make sure that their documents are complete and can show evidence that they are residing in Sarawak or Malaysia. This can be supported by their children’s schooling and medical records. These will show that they have been here for such a period,” she added.
In 2016, the Ministry had set up a Sarawak Special Committee on Citizenship under Article 15(A) of the Federal Constitution to specifically look into the issue of stateless children in Sarawak.
However, the committee was discontinued in July 2019 by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
It was later reinstated by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government earlier this year with a slight change as it is now co-chaired by Fatimah and the Deputy Home Minister, to assist stateless children under the age of 21 to apply for citizenship.
The Committee held its second meeting for 2021 earlier today with a total of 145 applications for citizenship being discussed. — DayakDaily
