He said he was an abandoned baby and grew up with adoptive parents. But there was a problem with the adoption process, and he only has a temporary identity card.
The story of “Edward” (not his real name) is one among hundreds of stateless people, born in Malaysia but without papers to allow them to live as citizens, who have sought the help of Klang MP Charles Santiago.
Jocelyn Dewi Kaniappan is another.
Daughter of a Filipina mother and Indian Malaysian father whose marriage was registered only after her birth, Jocelyn has had difficulty with her citizenship.
She cannot further her studies, nor get a job. “I have been applying for my identification card since I was 12 years old and now it has been almost 10 years and there is still no news,” she told FMT.
Charles Santiago said he knows of many cases of stateless people after having offered weekly assistance and advice for persons having legal documentation issues since June 2018.
He said stateless people were found in all the major racial groups. “They are children born to a Malaysian father and foreign mother, or were abandoned in childhood, or children of women who are stateless, causing generational statelessness.”
Santiago criticised the lack of consistency among government officials and the National Registration Department.
“Edward” said his request for citizenship was still pending. He lives with his adoptive family.
He said he was able to get a job, when offices were not computerised. “A few years later, the human resources department told me I can’t be an employee any more after re-checking my identity card,” he said.
He cannot access his bank account, or his EPF account, as he has only a temporary identity card.
He now has a business, registered by his girlfriend, who is Malaysian. “I want to get married but I do not want my children to bear the same fate as mine.”
Jocelyn can’t find work because of uncertainty about her citizenship. “Most companies refused to take me because they say I am not local. I can’t further my studies and I can’t get a job.”
She urged the National Registration Department to hear her case “so I can move on with my life.”
Santiago said the department’s decisions were not transparent, as they did not state why applications were denied.
He will take up the issue of stateless people with the home minister. “There needs to be political will to settle the problems. Many of those who gave up before are now coming again to my office, because they believe that the new government will end their wait.”
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