SOP to prevent fraudulent citizenship applications
MIRI: The National Registration Department (JPN) has in place a standard operating procedure ( SOP) for the application of citizenship for children.
Social activist Dato’ Wan Zain Syed Mohdzar said this SOP must be adhered to when approving applications for Malaysian citizenship to avoid fraud by applicants.
“The SOP is to prevent the act of fraud by the applicants, as there were cases when the names of locals were used under the pretext of being family members or adopted children in the effort to get Malaysian citizenship.
“Thus the SOP must be complied with, though in some cases there were complications when the child has no identification or documentation,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Wan Zain said children placed at the government and nongovernmental organisation (NGO) welfare homes with no citizenship or are yet to get their citizenship, are usually provided with selfidentification card by the welfare department to enable them to enroll in schools.
Adding on, he said the government always tries to help the children but some of the cases are quite complicated making it difficult for the applications to go smoothly.
“We support the work done by JPN’s special task force ( PKK) to screen every application and identify dubious features in the application’s documentation,” he said.
It was reported by JPN Sarawak that 158 operations were carried out by PKK throughout the state until Nov 28 last year, out of which 2,198 from a total of 6,784 applications for citizenship status were rejected for various reasons.
“A child without Malaysian citizenship is not eligible for textbook loan assistance; hence once the child has obtained the legal citizenship, the child will be given necessary assistance just like any Malaysian child with MyKid,” he commented further.