“I want to belong to this country. It’s where I was born. My family and friends are here. But I am not wanted.”
These painful words are from a 13-year old girl. Her anguish is shared by many others.
“As a mother, I am terrified for my child because the law will not protect her.”
A grandfather to a 13-year-old boy is baffled by the multiple rejection letters from the National Registration Department. “They don’t give any reasons.”
These are the heartbreaking stories about children who are stateless here. In 2016, the former home minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, estimated that there are close to 300,000 stateless children in the country.
Despite 65 years of independence, the lives of many Malaysian children remain in shackles as the government refuses to recognise them, leaving them with no access to education or healthcare.
In an attempt to bring some cheer as Merdeka dawns, my office hosted a lunch program with stateless children and their families. An intimate conversation in a safe environment enabled them to share their deepest fears and frustrations about being stateless in their own country.
Things must change for these kids.
In order for that to happen, the government must review how they assess citizenship applications and communicate to applicants the reasons for rejection.
We need a transparent and streamlined standard operating procedure for citizenship applications to reduce inconsistencies.
These children, some of whom have become adults, have dreams and ambitions. But not only are they unable to achieve their goals but are open to abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.
So, I urge Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to think through the issue of child statelessness.
The best Merdeka gift we can give our children is their right to nationality so that they too can celebrate our Independence Day as citizens of this country.