Freedom spokesperson N Ganesan said Malaysian-born lorry driver M Vengadeswaran has been fighting for his children’s citizenship for years, but had been given the runaround.
“The DNA matching meets the requirement of at least one parent being a citizen. The constitutional requirement is absolutely met.
“All other laws are subordinate to this clause and in any case need to be consistent with this clause. That should be the end of the story and the problem settled.
“Clearly, the NRD ignores the Federal Constitution. They insist that the mother must be available and on hand for the application, and that there must be a marriage registration,” Ganesan told FMT.
Vengadeswaran’s children – Suriya, 12; Agilandeswary, 11; and Thuranayagi, 10 – were born at the Seberang Jaya Hospital and are holders of “non-citizen” (bukan warganegara) birth certificates.
The NRD said it was denying them citizenship as Vengadeswaran’s marriage was not registered.
Vengadeswaran’s estranged wife, a Balinese woman of Chinese and Indian descent, left for Indonesia seven years ago, saying she wanted to attend her brother’s wedding. She has not been seen since.
Vengadeswaran had written to the NRD director-general, the secretary-general of the home ministry, and the attorney-general, but failed to get any response, Ganesan said.
He added that the NRD had given trivial reasons for rejecting the children’s applications for citizenship.
“The NRD continues to deny these children their constitutionally guaranteed right.
“These children are being raised by Vengadeswaran, a Malaysian citizen and a single parent.”
According to Ganesan, Vengadeswaran turned to the Chemistry Department last year for DNA tests to establish a paternal relationship with the children.
“In June 2016, the Chemistry Department report showed that Vengadeswaran is 99.9% father to the three children.
“Despite that, the NRD stubbornly insists that necessary conditions have not been fulfilled for them to accept these children as Malaysian citizens.”
Ganesan said the children had been given six months to obtain their citizenship, failing which they risked being kicked out of school.
“The Education Department is also acting in utter violation of the Federal Constitution, knowingly or incompetently,” he said.
“They are using various irrelevant parts of the law to block what is a guaranteed constitutional provision for these children – for them, it’s no mother, no deal.”
The three children were forced to drop out of SJK (T) Mak Mandin in Butterworth twice before, the last being in December.
But despite their difficulties, they have been called “nambikei nachatiram” (star students) by the school, coming out tops in their studies.
Following Freedom’s previous press conference on the issue in January, Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan said “a long-term solution was being formulated” for the children.