‘Report cases of Malaysians without identity documents’
KUCHING: Schools and community leaders throughout the state are requested to step forward and report cases of anyone they believe to be Malaysians without birth certificates or identity cards.
According to Minister of Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Datuk Fatimah Abdullah, there is a special taskforce team known as PPK visiting remote areas throughout the state to find such persons, but the team cannot do it alone.
This is because in order to help verify the citizenship of a person without a Malaysian birth certificate or identity card, one must seek help from his family and local community leaders in his place of birth.
PPK, a programme under the Sarawak National Registration Department, was created to help people, especially indigenous people of Sarawak, verify their citizenship through elected representatives, family members and local community leaders who can verify the person’s genealogy.
“Ever since PPK was formed in 2015, the team has completed 63 operations as of Dec 31, 2016. The team has handled 4,098 cases of which 2,885 applications were approved and 1,213 rejected,” the minister said during a press conference held at her office at Masja building yesterday.
Regarding rejected applications, she said there were a few reasons such as the applicant from a neighbouring country living near the border; entering the country after the formation of Malaysia; or having an identity card issued by a foreign country.
Fatimah also revealed that PPK has planned 50 operations to be carried out from Jan 25 this year.
For this month, PPK will be at Kampung Jangus, Lambir, Dewan Masyarakat Bekenu, RSC Long Latei, SK Ulu Pelagus, Rumah Jangit (at Jalan Igu, Tamin) and Simunjan Community Hall.
The PPK programme runs from Sept 15, 2015 to Dec 31 this year.
Fatimah said issues regarding Malaysian citizenship, especially concerning indigenous people, are regularly debated in the State Legislative Assembly or Parliament.
It was a hot topic debated by the mass media in the country and highlighted by a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).