Legal rights group highlights case of four siblings who remain stateless despite being born to Malaysian father

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Legal rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has today called on the government to settle the case of four stateless siblings born to a Malaysian father.

In a press conference, the group urged Putrajaya to immediately acknowledge the citizenship of the four siblings and issue their MyKad identification cards (IC).

“This is the duty of the National Registration Department and the Home Ministry to make sure that entitled Malaysian citizens get their citizenship documents, which is the blue IC," the group's adviser, lawyer N. Surendran, told reporters here.

“I want to tell the home minister, including the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and every minister sitting the Cabinet because ultimately, they have to take responsibility for the difficulties that the family is facing. They have the power and ability to fix this problem with a stroke of a pen."

The four stateless siblings included Aziq Fadyan, 24, Azreen Batrisyia, 22, and their sisters aged 12 and eight.

LFL said the father, Fadil Saharudin, had married their Indonesian mother in 1998.

The group further said there should be no issue for them to be acknowledged as citizens as they are entitled to citizenship under the Federal Constitution's Article 14(1)(b) and Section 1(a) and 1(e) of Part II of the Second Schedule.

Article 14(1)(b) states that everyone born after Malaysia Day with the qualifications stated in Part II of the Second Schedule is considered a citizen.

Under the abovementioned Part II, the qualifications in Section 1(a) and (e) require them to have at least one parent as a citizen, or be born in Malaysia with no other citizenship.

Surendran added the children have been denied proper education, employment and healthcare as well as unable to open bank accounts, get driving licenses or appropriate jobs with fair wages.

He said the older siblings could not even obtain SPM certificates, while the younger ones cannot currently attend school.

“This is simply because the government will not acknowledge their Malaysian citizenship,” he said.