KUALA LUMPUR – Sandakan MP Vivian Wong has urged the Home Ministry to streamline the citizenship application process, saying that lengthy delays have left many Sabah applicants stateless for years.
The DAP lawmaker expressed concern that these prolonged delays, which may take years, have deprived many individuals of their rights as citizens in the country.
She urged the ministry to adopt a more efficient approach to accelerate the application processing time.
Wong revealed that she has received numerous complaints from constituents in her area who have missed educational opportunities due to their stateless status.
During a session at the special chamber of the Dewan Rakyat, Wong proposed the use of genetic identification to expedite citizenship applications for late birth registration cases falling under Article 15 of the federal constitution.
In response, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah clarified that genetic identification could only serve as a supporting document.
He said this is because the federal constitution stipulates that only children of legally married couples meeting specific criteria can be granted citizenship.
Otherwise, the children would inherit their mother’s citizenship.
Shamsul also noted that from 2017 to September 2023, the ministry received a total of 22,582 applications, with 25% (6,046) originating from Sabah.
The success rate in Sandakan stood at a mere 3% (50 cases), while 443 applications were rejected, 89 faced objections and 1,045 were still under review.
In her statement today, Wong underscored the urgent need to expedite the application process, highlighting that the data provided by the deputy minister illustrates that many people may wait a lifetime for their applications to be approved, with a mere 3% approval rate over five years.
She expressed sympathy for the predicament, as 120 applicants had sought assistance from her service centre in the past four years.
Wong also questioned the fairness of allowing individuals to remain stateless throughout their lives due to issues beyond their control, such as parents failing to register their marriages before the birth of their children. – October 12, 2023