Citizenship at last for stateless 6
Birth certificates finally issued to group of children in Sarawak waiting to be recognised as Malaysians
We were actually in disbelief, more so because my husband had tried several times to change Jeanny’s citizenship on her birth certificate from non-citizen to citizen.
Ruran Lukas
KUCHING: The future is looking a whole lot brighter for six children in Sarawak, now that their long wait to become Malaysian citizens has ended and they are no longer held back by the status as ‘stateless children’.
In Lawas, nine-year-old Jeanny Lianna Ating and her family cried tears of joy when they saw the girl’s birth certificate from the National Registration Department (NRD).
Jeanny had completed Primary 1 in 2020 and had been a ending Primary 2 for two months last year when her mother Ruran Lukas received a devastating text message saying Jeanny would no longer be allowed to go to school as she is not a Malaysian. That is now all in the past. Ruran told The Borneo Post yesterday that NRD had issued Jeanny with her new birth certificate and she would soon get her national identity card.
“On Wednesday, NRD Lawas contacted my husband to collect the new birth certificate from their office. However, he only managed to collect it yesterday (Aug 18),” she said.
“We were actually in disbelief, more so because my husband had tried several times to change Jeanny’s citizenship on her birth certificate from non-citizen to citizen.
“We are forever grateful to all parties, especially the state government and JPN for allowing our application.”
Ruran added that Jeanny is also set to be issued a MyKid – the identity card for children aged below 12 years – in October.
Ruran, whose nationality is officially Indonesian despite being born and raised in Sarawak, and husband Ating Agong had only registered their marriage in 2006.
As such, although Jeanny’s birth certificate clearly states Ating as her father, she was not granted Malaysian citizenship.
Jeanny’s story, which made headlines in The Borneo Post, prompted calls from various politicians and social activists for the state government to intervene and put an end to the long-standing issue which has denied stateless children their rights to education.
On April 9, Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah announced that the Premier of Sarawak’s office would issue temporary documentation to eligible stateless children applying for citizenship under Section 15A of the Federal Constitution to support them in having access to education and health facilities.
Following the state government’s intervention, Jeanny was allowed to return to school in May.
In Kuching Division, two families with five stateless children from Lundu received their birth certificates from NRD yesterday and they too, are waiting for their identity cards.
Social activist cum president of Persatuan Pembangunan Insan Sarawak (PPIS).Manjeet Kaur Sidhu, who assisted the families expressed their gratitude to the NRD office here for their efficiency in getting citizenship documents for these children whose education has been disrupted.
Manjeet said the first case involved a couple who were married ‘kampung style’ and later advised to legally register their marriage when they were expecting their fourth child.
“They followed the advice and registered their marriage with NRD but their three school going children aged 17, 14 and nine years, became stateless and could not go to school. One should be in Form 5, one in Form 2 and one in Primary 4. To me education is very important. No child should be deprived of this basic right,” she said when met outside the NRD office here yesterday.
She has been working on these cases the past four months including approaching schools to allow the children to stay in school at their discretion while she worked on their documents.
It involved the hassle of running around from getting a lawyer, court order, the native authorities for traditional marriage and the NRD amongst others to get all the required paperwork.
“The whole process was very tedious and should be simplified as many would just give up because it involves a lot of time, money and mental stress. To hire a lawyer is almost RM6,000 excluding documents and stuff,” she explained.
The other family involved the mother who had converted to Islam but later reverted to her previous religion. When she reconverted to her previous religion, their two children were ‘stateless’. The issue had been resolved and their birth certificates changed from pink to green.
“Their younger son below 16 years got his birth certificate and IC immediately a few weeks ago. However, their older son above 16 years old needed approval from the committee. We have just received approval and he can collect his IC by end of this month,” she added.