However, Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching asked whether the federal government would be offering similar help to other long-suffering stateless people in the country.

In a statement, she said, like Rohana Abdullah, there were many more stateless children who had been experiencing “very similar tragic and traumatic experiences” in getting their citizenship.

Rohana’s predicament had drawn much attention after it was reported in the media.

Teo said if Ismail and Hamzah were serious about ending such suffering by the stateless, they should acknowledge the policy gaps in this citizenship issue.

The former deputy education minister said she had earlier proposed that all stateless children, whose fathers were Malaysians, be given citizenship upon producing a DNA test report.

She had also proposed that all stateless children adopted by Malaysians should be given citizenship, too.

“Can all stateless persons trust the Keluarga Malaysia government to find a permanent solution to end their misery?

“Or do they need to wait for their time to get media exposure before they receive assurances from the prime minister or home minister?” she said.

In a separate statement, Penang assemblyman Kumaresan Arumugam said he had to deal with many such cases involving stateless children as the PKR citizenship bureau coordinator.

He said Article 15(A) of the Federal Constitution gave the power to the federal government to grant citizenship to these stateless children.