Activist: Ask for administrative autonomy
KUCHING: The state government is urged to demand administrative autonomy for national registration from Putrajaya to solve the issues of statelessness in Sarawak once and for all.
This call came from Sarawak/ Sabah Indigenous Peoples Rights activist Peter John Jaban, who lamented that the problem of statelessness “is rife in Sarawak, especially amongst the natives”.
“Demanding administrative autonomy for national registration from Putrajaya will allow the state to set administrative requirements that are responsible to the needs of Sarawak, long poorly understood by Putrajaya,” he said in a statement yesterday.
The statement was issued in light of the recent reports on four border scouts who were still waiting for citizenship despite defending the country during the Confrontation.
Peter said they were grateful to the media for highlighting the issue and for a while, there was a small amount of progress under the Sarawak-based taskforce.
“But sadly this was disbanded. Even this taskforce was insufficient, however, and a much more far-reaching change is required to properly tackle the problem.
“The law is clear, that any resident in Malaysia at the time of its formation or anyone with one Sarawakian parent is entitled to citizenship,” he pointed out.
According to him, the National Registration Department (JPN) seems determined to cling rigidly to a small number of documents as administrative proof to allow citizenship, even if that means denying legitimate applicants their rights.
He said many of the natives “simply do not have the documents regardless of their birth or parental status”.
And because of this, they were deprived of their rights as citizens, he regretted.
“JPN Sarawak must be allowed to conduct proper analysis on a case-by-case basis that is relevant and appropriate to a Sarawak context.”
Peter said Sarawak must have the power to decide on these matters since Putrajaya had shown a complete disregard for the specific individualities that made Sarawak.
He said Putrajaya must cede authority to those who actually live in Sarawak and care about the future of Sarawak.
“Then, the Sarawak government, if empowered, can embark on a mass registration drive to ensure all legitimate Sarawakians get their citizenship and enjoy the benefits and privileges which come with it,” he enthused.
Asserting that autonomy must serve all strata of society, he asked: “What is the point of us thumping our chests that we have our own oil and gas company or that we want to have our own telco when our own people cannot enjoy basic benefits like health because they are not recognised as citizens despite being born and raised here?”
He further asked why Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), the stateruling coalition, should lend its support to the current federalruling coalition (Perikatan Nasional) if GPS was not going to make demands on behalf of the Sarawak people.
“Citizenship is indeed precious and must be guarded carefully. But a country that denies citizenship to those who guarded its borders must finally accept that something has gone wrong along the way. It is time to put the issue of statelessness right,” he added.