KUCHING: Some families whose children are
currently stateless, gathered in the National Registration Department (NRD)
office here yesterday desperately hoping that their children’s problem would be
solved once and for all but unfortunately it was not to be.
Led by Lee Chai Soon, a representative of
State Assemblyman for Batu Kitang, Lo Khere Chiang, the affected children and
their families were disappointed that there was another round of documents
processing.
Besides a few tense moments, some parents
were angry that it was another merry go round case. A few staff at the NRD
interviewed the affected children and ‘pushed’ the matter to the Home Ministry
saying that citizenship is an issue for the Home Ministry.
Lee however said they have got the
reference numbers of the affected cases and would pass the matter to Lo who
will write directly to KDN to expedite the cases.
New Sarawak Tribune interviewed some of the
parents present at the NRD office yesterday.
Most of them have termed the NRD office as
their second home due to their frequent visits.
A 44-year-old housewife, Yati Abau
expressed her disappointment when her daughter, Wennie Liaw Tze Shyan’s
citizenship was withdrawn four years ago.
Wennie who turned 12 at that time (2014)
had gone to the NRD office here to apply for her MyKad which is normal for a
child when he/she reaches the age of 12.
The reason given by NRD in declining
Wennie’s application for MyKad was because she was born before her mother, Yati
Abau was married to Liaw Joon Foh. Liaw is a labourer and his family is
classified as hardcore poor.
Wennie’s birth was registered at the
Sarawak General Hospital where she was born.
“My main concern is her education. She will
be sitting for her SPM next year and without her MyKad she will be prohibited
from taking the examination.
“This would definitely affect her mind,
motivation and spirit. I have been trying to resolve this matter since it was
identified in 2012 and even have supporting letters from Minister of Home
Affairs, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and State Assemblyman of Batu Kitang,
Lo Khere Chiang,” said Yati.
Despite the supporting documents, NRD was
unable to assist her daughter’s application for citizenship and that the matter
can only be decided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN).
Yati was also asked to produce more
documents including her Entrance Permit.
Responding to this, Yati said that the
Immigration Department has not issued her the permit despite her frequent
visits to the department. She was also unable to reach the department officers
by phone.
She added that in the past, NRD had also
told her that her daughter’s name was not in the department’s ‘system’ due to
its manual feature, which is now automated.
“How can such a thing happen? Once a name
is recorded, be it manually or automatically it should be in the ‘system’ and
not disappeared just like that,” Yati said, adding that the endless cycle of
requesting documents will not waver her spirit to fight for her daughter’s
rights.
Yati and Liaw have three other children but
none of them is facing any citizenship problem.
Another affected family was the daughter of
Chan Kok, who has been in the same dilemma for seven long years as the matter
has not been solved.
“I have been informed that KDN is the
decision maker. I was hoping that by today the NRD would be able to speed up
the application process.
“They told me that they could not give me
any time frame even though the application has been forwarded to KDN,” he said.
Chan added that what’s worse is that KDN
may reject the application without notifying him even after 7 years of waiting.
Seven-year-old Lee Lee Yuan’s father who is
self employed said he has been going to the NRD office since Lee Yuan was two.
“I have lost count of the number of visit I
make to this office. But NRD never give us a proper answer why our applications
were rejected. It is the same old story,” he said.
Lee said he thanked the NRD personnel who
had helped them to process the documents yesterday. He hoped that this time,
things will move and his son will have a future he rightly deserved.
Lee said his son’s problem has affected him
a lot mentally as he could not sleep at night worrying about it.
“What do they want my son to be if he has
no identity card or proper documents. He can’t get a job. You want him to end
up working as a gangster or something illegal?” he said with a sigh.
The group then dispersed and hoped that
there will be more updates from NRD on the matter.
(From
left) Liaw, Winnie and Yati showing the supporting letters from Deputy Prime
Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and State Assemblyman of Batu
Kitang, Lo Khere Chiang.
By : NewsDesk, Sarawak Tribune
Date Posted : Friday 12-Aug-2016
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