Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) said it was appalled by the news of Darshana, who was legally adopted but classified as a non-citizen.
“It is shocking that every year, the Immigration Department of Malaysia is seemingly granted with broader arbitrary powers to restrict the exercise of human rights in Malaysia.
“On top of the gross violation of human rights that is constantly reported from immigration detention centres, the arbitrary barring of internationally recognised human rights defenders, and the act of preventing Malaysian human rights defenders from leaving the country, the Immigration Department has reached a new height in its power if it is allowed to influence and alter education policy,” Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said in a statement.
News of Darshana surfaced on Tuesday, when The Star reported that she was unable to attend school as she did not possess a passport.
“How are we to get her a passport when we have no idea who or where her parents are?” her adoptive father, B Ganesan, was quoted as saying.
Ganesan added that he and his wife had submitted an application for Darshana’s citizenship, which is still pending.
Sevan said Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid had on Jan 6 announced that stateless children would be allowed to attend public schools even if their citizenship applications were still being processed.
“It is shocking that a mere enforcement agency is able to overrule a policy made by the education ministry on the issue of access to school and education,” he added.
Calling on the home ministry to answer for the “gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Immigration Department”, Sevan asked how it had achieved its key performance index in 2017 when an enforcement agency under its purview could act in such a manner.
He said there was no excuse for a child born in the country and raised by Malaysian parents to be denied equal opportunity based solely on the government’s failure to address the issue of statelessness.
“Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Malaysia has obligations to protect and promote the rights of children irrespective of their status and origin,” he added.