Community heads in Sarawak have been urged to take an interest in the status of residents in their areas in an effort to help the government resolve cases of individuals and children without citizenship.
Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the issue of personal identification documents was one of 14 matters the state government was focusing on.
“We do not mean to dictate your lives but it is important for parents to register their marriages and the births of their children so that they will not face problems to get access to education and health, which is a basic right of every individual.
“Children are family property and they should be given education so that they can grow into good adults who can help the family,” he said at a ceremony to hand over the Sarawak Temporary Document for Individuals Without Citizenship (DSITKS) here today.
Abang Johari said DSITKS was a temporary solution offered by Sarawak to undocumented individuals who are waiting for the federal government to approve their citizenship applications.
Meanwhile, state Women Development, Children and Community Well-being Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said DSITKS was not a citizenship document or promise of award of Malaysian citizenship.
“Those eligible to be given DSITKS are individuals or children born in Sarawak, where one of their biological parents is a Malaysian and Sarawak resident,” she said at the ceremony.
She said 176 applications had been received and 86 had been approved by the Premier Department and issued with DSITKS as at Feb 24 this year.
“Of this number, 13 recipients were granted Malaysian citizenship under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution by the Home Minister of Malaysia on March 9,” she added.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency