Isnin, Mac 26, 2012

GETTING CITIZENSHIP NO PROBLEM FOR SABAH’S ‘STATELESS’

Getting citizenship no problem for Sabah’s ‘stateless’

Middlemen are selling MyKads in Sabah for between RM5,000 and RM20,000 apiece, even as NRD admits that hopeful foreigners are lining up to get their bit of Malaysia.

533117_10150679184312976_661702975_9074470_1532897214_n

KOTA KINABALU March 26, 2012: Even as Malaysian-born Indians and native Orang Asli children in Peninsular Malaysia are forced to prove their legitimacy as citizens, over in Sabah the federal government is freely granting “stateless” children citizenship simply because it is “too expensive” to travel to report the birth of these children.

Why such “caring” sentiment is absent in the peninsula where there are so many stateless children is anyone’s guess, but suffice to note that in Sabah, the MyKads are for children from the mainly Muslim east coast sector where MP Shafie Apdal and state assemblyman Nasir Tun Sakaran are up against factionalism within Umno.

As questions continue to swirl over how so many children allegedly born in Sabah did not have birth certificates, Nasir, who is a minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, on Saturday passed the ball to the federal government on the matter.

463300_374487102586061_140353672_o Nasir said the mobile registration exercise to provide such a large number of birth certificates and MyKads to those in his Senallang constituency in Semporna was with the approval of Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and the National Registration Department.

As the issue threatens to boil over, Nasir told the local media on Saturday that many children on the various islands in the district had no birth certificates and that was reason why so many in his constituency were “stateless”.

“The majority of the people are fishermen who find it too expensive to travel all the way to the mainland just to report the birth of their children.

“Most are also unconcerned whether their children had birth certificates or not because for them, with or without documents, they still consider themselves Sabahans and Malaysians,” Nasir was quoted as saying.

The minister’s comments come after the Semporna Bumiputera Bajau Association (SBBA) sounded the alarm that foreigners were taking advantage of the exercise to be legalised in the state.

‘Not Sabahan’s children’

535307_10150679184542976_661702975_9074471_362209390_n SBBA president Mansor Santiri, who focused the spotlight on the NRD exercise, called on the department to halt it immediately as “even community leaders were arranging for foreigners to get such documents”.

The association subsequently lodged a police report of the alleged fraud.

Talk in the state continues to dwell on how easy it is to buy Malaysian citizenship in the state, especially when elections loom.

412128_179078208877050_100003246167475_275800_2098844787_o Wilfred Bumburing, the BN MP for Tuaran, who has kept playing up the issue of how the population of the state had tripled in the space of a few years, has lent his voice to the controversy even as demands for a royal inquiry on the matter grow.

He said earlier this week that it was “unbelievable” there are so many children without birth certificates in the state, adding that the question that keeps popping up is who are these people as the dignity and sovereignty of the nation were at stake.

“I believe this is not true because the majority of Sabahans now are aware of the importance of registering their children soon after birth,” he said.

Bumburing also highlighted the bias of the ongoing exercise, saying some were getting Bumiputera (native) status while children of mixed-marriages were “downgraded”.

MyKads for up to RM20,000

414472_10150899057219778_680494777_12738453_490407665_o Meanwhile, Sabah NRD director Ismail Ahmad said that every precaution is being taken to prevent fraud.

He, however, agreed that many foreigners “wait with the rest of the eligible people but … they won’t be entertained”.

The ongoing exercise began on Feb 20 and the NRD has stated that so far more than 3,067 Malaysians were without birth certificates.

470452_355509914491394_100000971651447_942162_337238873_o According to sources, some in the business community in Labuan are openly charging “clients” RM2,000 to help them sort out the citizenship woes.

Word among the foreign workers is that a MyKad can be obtained through a middleman for between RM5,000 and RM20,000.

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32 ulasan:

  1. Hope that these middlemen who are involved in the selling of the MyKad to illegal immigrants and foreigners will be exposed for their crime. Doing so is a betrayal to Sabahans.

    BalasPadam
    Balasan
    1. Siasat dan menghantar penjenayah ini masuk ke penjara.

      Padam
    2. Sehingga kini masih tiada tindakan yang diambil terhadap golongan ini.

      Padam
    3. Hope the problem will not get worse.

      Padam
  2. All Malaysians should ensure that their children are registered with the NRD, they should be concerned if their children does not have the related documents which shows that they are real citizen in the country. Otherwise there will be a lot of complications in the future. The government could consider making birth registration more easier for those who lived in rural areas.

    BalasPadam
    Balasan
    1. Stupid excuses given by them...sigh..what a joke

      Padam
    2. Harap mereka akan membuat terbaik untuk negara kita.

      Padam
  3. Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Vice President Datuk Radin Malleh has urged the National Registration Department (NRD) to be more cautious especially in carrying out the mobile registration exercise.

    BalasPadam
    Balasan
    1. Yeap, they are the one who should play their role and ensure no back door ID been given.

      Padam
    2. Mobile indeed convenient yet a lot of issue if it is not handle well.

      Padam
  4. He said it is important to prevent illegal immigrants or those who are not eligible from taking advantage of the programme to obtain birth certificates or identity cards.

    BalasPadam
    Balasan
    1. That is why RCI needed to take place to make proper investigation.

      Padam
  5. He said that based on reports and past experiences, certain parties might take advantage of this exercise. Therefore, he (Radin) demanded that the relevant authorities especially the NRD to adopt a cautious approach in giving the birth certificate since it affects our sovereignty and national security as well as our future as Malaysian citizens if it falls into the hands of foreigners or people who do not qualify.

    BalasPadam
  6. This is due to the fact that there are many evidences and reports that had indicated that illegal immigrants can easily obtain citizenship document such as birth certificates, identity cards or MyKad.

    BalasPadam
    Balasan
    1. Hairan saluran mana golongan ini mendapat id dan identiti ysebagai Malaysian?

      Padam
  7. The Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister (Radin) is confident that the NRD has a fool-proof mechanism to ensure that only those eligible are registered for birth certificates or identity cards during the mobile registration exercise.

    BalasPadam
  8. He expressed his empathy that all the people of Sabah are duly concerned if it is true that many illegal immigrants are getting identification cards and becoming citizens of Malaysia very easily.

    BalasPadam
    Balasan
    1. This issue been brought up long time ago yet no action been taken.

      Padam
  9. He further emphasise that the right way to obtain the Malaysian citizenship is to follow the provision of the Federal Constitution of which one must be fluent in Malay, know the customs of this country and must take an oath of loyalty to the King and nation.

    BalasPadam
  10. Radin stated that although there are still people in the rural and remote areas, who have no birth certificates and identity cards, the number is small and there was no longer a need for the mobile registration exercise. However, he acknowledged that the purpose of conducting the mobile registration exercise by the NRD is to facilitate the people in the State who have no such documents yet. He indicated that by holding such exercise, the government has shown that it cares for the needs and well-being of the people.

    BalasPadam
  11. Pihak NCR harus bertanggung jawab dan menjalankan tugas dengan amanah untuk menjamin yang mendapat ic adalah golongan yang berkelayakan.

    BalasPadam
    Balasan
    1. Amanah yang dipertanggungjawabkan harus la dilaksanakan dengan jujur.

      Padam
    2. Cakap senang tetapi ada juga golongan yang megambil kesempatan dan membuat sesuatu yang merisikokan negara.

      Padam
  12. Status kewarganegaraan tidak patut diberi sewenang-wenangnya kepada warga asing. Syarat2 harus dipatuhi.

    BalasPadam
    Balasan
    1. Pihak yang menyalahguna kuasa harus dikenakan tindakan undang-undang.

      Padam
  13. status kewarganegaraan tidak harus diberikan begitu mudah kepada orang asing.

    BalasPadam
  14. sebelum berikan kewarnagaraan kena pastikan dahulu samada mereka layak atau tidak.

    BalasPadam
  15. Pendaftaran bergerak ini sebenarnya baik. Tapi kita perlu juga memastikan kesahihan mereka yang tidak mempunyai sijil lahir dan MyKad tersebut. Kita tidak boleh bagi begitu saja nanti free2 bagi PATI semua itu.

    BalasPadam
  16. This is just stupid.

    BalasPadam
  17. Orang yang tidak bertanggungjawab, jangalah susahkan kita....

    BalasPadam
  18. bukankah pemimpin2 pembangkang juga pernah mengakui bahawa masih terdapat penduduk di negeri ini yang masih belum memiliki MyKad??

    BalasPadam
  19. jika ada mana2 pihak yang tidak bersetuju dengan langkah yang diambil oleh pihak JPN ini, baik mereka juga menyertai pendaftaran bergerak ini bagi memastikan program ini tidak disalahgunakan untuk kepentingan pihak tertentu..

    BalasPadam