KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — Sellamah Papaya, 57, lives with six other family members in a sparsely furnished three-room flat in Bandar Bukit Raja, Klang.
Sellamah, who has 10 children aged 16 to 37, lives in constant worry that the authorities will find out five of them do not have MyKads.
(MyKad is a compulsory identity card for all Malaysians aged 12 and above. Apart from the birth certificate, MyKad acts as proof of citizenship.)
This makes them, even though they are born in Malaysia to Malaysian parents, technically foreigners. Stateless.
How did this happen?
Although she gave birth to her oldest child —a son, Murugan — in hospital 37 years ago, the subsequent nine were all born at home as she did not have money to travel to a government hospital.
Her husband worked as a banana leaf supplier to Indian restaurants. “He would just cut the leaves from some trees that grew wildly and sell them. That’s all. At times there was hardly any money,” she said.
With most of them not having birth certificates, it was hard to get proper MyKads. Eventually, five of her children managed to do so but the other five remain stateless.
To make matters worse, her daughter Mageswary — who does not have a birth certificate or MyKad — is now a widow and her four children are also without proper identification papers.
Unable to cope, Mageswary gave up three of her children to a shelter. “I gave them up two months ago... I did it for their future as I am uneducated,” she said.
On top of that, she also owes the hospital RM4,000 in unpaid medical bills. Mageswary had gone there seeking treatment for tuberculosis which she contracted from her late husband.
Without a MyKad, she was treated as a foreigner and could not enjoy government-subsidised medical help available to Malaysian citizens.
Different circumstances, (almost) same story
Radha Ayasamy, 31, holds a MyKas as her birth certificate only has her mother’s name with no details of her nationality.
(MyKas is a temporary resident identity card which has to be renewed every five years.)
Radha was separated from her mother when she was a child and has not heard from her since.
“Only my mother’s name and nothing about my father. His name is also not in my birth certificate,” she told Malay Mail Online when met at her home in Kapar.
However, unlike Sellamah’s children, Radha managed to get a decent education, and now lives with her lorry driver husband who holds a MyKad and their four children.
Radha said that she has been trying to convert her MyKas into a MyKad since 2010.
“I went down to Segamat where I was born to get hospital records on my birth but I was told that the hospital had destroyed all records prior to 1996.”
Despite her husband Suresh possessing both his birth certificate and a MyKad, Radha’s two older children — Kevin, 13, and Samuel, 11 — are declared non-citizens in their birth certificates. Radha’s younger two children are, however, citizens.
This is because the couple failed to register their marriage in 2004. They only had a registration certificate from the church they were married in, and this proved to be a problem when they tried to register their two older children’s births.
“Before my third and fourth sons were born, we registered our marriage in 2010, so they got their citizen status in their birth certificates as they were registered under their father,” she explained. The two older children were registered under Radha’s name.
The law states that a child is a citizen should either parent be a Malaysian citizen. However, in situations where only the father is a citizen, proof must be shown to determine he is the biological father.
In Radha’s case, Kevin and Samuel could have been declared citizens if Suresh could prove that he is indeed their father via a DNA test.
Unfortunately, the solution comes at a hefty price... about RM2,000 per person, according to Radha. “It is just too expensive... too much to bear for us,” she lamented.
Earlier this month, MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam announced the latest Mega MyDaftar campaign to reach out to Malaysian Indian citizens who do not have any birth certificates or MyKads.
This issue — while not confined to any particular race — is especially prevalent among the ethnic Indians in the country. The government-endorsed registration drive starts this month.
Lawyer/activist Latheefa Koya says previous registration campaigns were unsuccessful because applicants were applying for citizenship under Article 19 of the Federal Constitution instead of Article 14.
“When you fill in the form, the applicants will be subjected to interviews, and this is where they will fail. They don’t have any education, they don’t know the language,” Latheefa told Malay Mail Online.
Article 19 stipulates regulations for naturalisation for non-Malaysians. Those who satisfy the provisions under this law must also take an oath, before being granted permanent residency (PR) status.
Under Article 14, an applicant has to prove nationality status ie. was he/she born in Malaysia, is either parent a Malaysian so he/she is granted citizenship under operation of law.
“There is such a form for Article 14 to mengesahkan taraf (certify nationality status). Which means, I am just asking you, the government, to check my status. Was I born here? Do I have my parents, one of them who is a citizen here? If all these has been confirmed, then I should fall under operation of law,” she added.
Latheefa said that once a person has been issued the certificate to acknowledge nationality, he/she can then apply for MyKad.
Whose fault is it anyway?
Senior lawyer Annou Xavier calls it a conundrum; while there are apparent legal issues with the manner the government handles, or rejects, citizenship applications, the issue is made more complex because of ignorance on the part of those seeking citizenship.
“A lot of people only realise they have IC woes when they reach 18, as that’s when reality kicks in. Further education, marriage, buying a home, opening bank accounts,” Annou said.
“The reason why the government issues the (citizenship) form under Article 19 is because they don’t have proof the applicants are born in Malaysia. Some don’t have birth certificates, and they do not have any documents to show their parents are Malaysians, and if their birth certificates are registered,” he told Malay Mail Online.
However, he said the administrative flaws on the government’s side can gravely jeopardise the future of citizenship seekers.
This is because, Annou said, the Home Minister wields absolute power when deciding who gets to be Malaysian.
In addition, he said that the National Registration Department (NRD) often delays or prolongs responses to applications.
“Wait can go up to 15 months for applications under Article 19. Then the application notice will come to say whether yours is rejected or not. What do you do after that? You can reapply again and wait for another 15 months.”
Annou said the wait is also the same for those applying for citizenship under Article 14.
“In one of the cases I did in the Court of Appeal, the judges asked the lawyer from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) why it takes 15 months, and was told it is the stipulated procedure.
“If a seven-year-old child can speak reasonable Bahasa Malaysia and has no (criminal) record and will be loyal to the King, what is wrong in giving citizenship? So now my question is, is citizenship given to a particular religion? Is that the criteria the Home Minister sees? I have raised this question in court before,” he added.
Annou said that the Malaysian government should look into formulating a Citizenship Act, to address the problem of statelessness among those born in the country.
“II is because we do not have a Citizenship Act that we can only rely on the Federal Constitution,” he added.
Annou also called for the establishment of a special task force under the proposed Act, comprising of the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry as well as the Home Ministry, in deciding whether or not citizenship can be granted to certain people.
MyDaftar campaigns not addressing issue? MIC rebuts
MIC’s MyDaftar campaign has been criticised by those who call it a political gimmick.
MIC national Youth secretary K. Arvind however concurred with Annou, that the bulk of the statelessness issues afflicting the ethnic Indian community stems from ignorance.
Arvind is a manager at the Special Implementation Task Force on the Indian Community (SITF), under the Prime Minister’s Office, which will be running the Mega MyDaftar campaign.
“How can they prove they are Malaysian citizens when they can’t show their school leaving certificate, don’t have a birth certificate or even a BCG jab?” Arvind asked.
Arvind said many of the people truly do not qualify to be registered as citizens under Article 14, as argued otherwise by Latheefa.
“It’s not to say that we do not give them (the forms), but they can’t even qualify for it because they lack all the key supporting documents,” he told Malay Mail Online.
He said that in many cases they do not turn up for their scheduled NRD interviews which MIC helped secure, and later had their applications rejected.
“Also people who do get their MyKads with our help don’t speak out,” he added.
The Mega MyDaftar campaign is from June 3-26 nationwide and “regardless of whether they are Opposition or NGOS, all are welcome to join and make this campaign a success. Please put politics aside and join the cause.”
