KOTA KINABALU: The Home Ministry’s plan to provide documentation to stateless children is not an automatic issuance of citizenship, says Deputy Home Minister Datuk Azis Jamman
He refuted a claim by Sabah opposition leader Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan by saying that the proposal is to ensure that the rights of these children are protected in line with the United Nations Convention for Children.
“My answer in Parliament to him was that that the government’s plan was to take a census of the number of such stateless children and that they would be given identity documents," he said.
Azis added that in cases where a child had one Malaysian parent, the government
would consider issuing them citizenship irrespective of their race, religion or ethnicity if they meet the requirements.
“Nobody is being left out by the government as accused by the opposition. Our efforts are mainly to resolve and help stateless children who don’t have documents,” he said.
He said that the 'Team Mobile' outreach would continue to help children living in rural areas and on the islands.
“The government is now studying various provisions of the country’s laws that puts children at a higher risk of becoming stateless,” Azis added, saying that the aim was to help all children to be protected.
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