He said this was agreed at a meeting last night with Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders and the Indian community, and concerned 3,407 stateless Indians.
“The red IC is a permanent residency card. If they are already 60 and above, they can go to the National Registration Department (NRD), fill in the necessary forms to change their red IC to blue.
“This is what we promised in the (election) manifesto. We had already decided earlier, but the process to issue the blue MyKad takes time.
“We will fulfil our promise to red IC holders and those 60 and above,” he said at a press conference after chairing a meeting on the management of foreign workers in the country in Parliament.
Also present were Human Resource Minister M Kulasegaran and Deputy Rural Development Minister R Sivarasa.
As for those below 60, Mahathir said if there was a basis, such as one of the parents being Malaysian, they would have the right to become citizens.
“There are certain conditions required for those who want to apply to be citizens, and they need to abide by these. If they follow them, they can become citizens.
“A simple Bahasa Melayu test will also be held. If they pass, we can accept them as citizens.
“Other conditions include residing in the country for 12 years. That is the provision of the Federal Constitution,” he said.
PH had promised to resolve the statelessness issue in Malaysia in its election manifesto for the May general election.
The problem of stateless people is not limited to the peninsula as Sabah, too, has a large number of people without citizenship.
A coalition of NGOs in Sabah last month claimed there were “at least 800,000 stateless people” in the state.
Last November, NGO Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas Malaysia said Indians comprised the biggest number affected in the peninsula with 12,392 stateless individuals recorded between 2014 and 2017.
It said that of the number, only 2,225 had acquired citizenship.
Out of the 12,392 stateless people, 4,522 were children up to the age of 17 years, 3,227 were adults aged 18 to 59, and 4,643 were seniors aged 60 and above.
Among the seniors, 40% were born in Malaysia while the other 60% had arrived in the country before independence in 1957.