Eric Paulsen
PETALING JAYA: Sabah should recognise stateless children and give them birth certificates despite the objections of politicians, said Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen.
He said granting birth certificates was a fundamental right of all children and had nothing to do citizenship.
"Birth registration is a fundamental right of all children and a basic function of all modern governments," he said, adding that this was also part of the international obligation required by Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Malaysia.
"Let us be clear, birth registration only certifies birth, place of birth, parentage and is wholly different from the issue of citizenship," said Paulsen in a statement on Sunday.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi recently announced that Putrajaya would be working with the National Registration Department (NRD) and the Education departments to issue birth certificates to stateless children on humanitarian grounds, to enable them to get education.
Paulsen said there were many vulnerable people in Sabah, including undocumented women and street children of refugee or migrant descent, who lived in poverty and yet were "unfairly blamed" by politicians for the social ills in the state.
"Many live in poverty and a life of exploitation, unable to access basic social services like healthcare and education but are also unfairly blamed and easily targeted by politicians for social ills including insecurity and violent crimes.
"Sabah like any other bustling frontier territory attracts both short and long term cross border migration, some who have entered and stayed legally, while others illegally," he said.
Many have permanently settled in Sabah through birth, residence, descent, marriage or naturalisation.
"These people may have properly acquired citizenship or permanent resident status and all the accompanying rights.
"While the issues at stake are serious and have far-reaching consequences, the citizenship and fundamental human rights of persons should not be sacrificed for the sake of political mileage or sensationalism," Paulsen said.
He called on all parties to remain level-headed and not let "prejudicial or xenophobic sentiments" cloud their judgement in tackling the statelessness of children.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
