SEREMBAN: The Home Ministry will give priority to adopted children and those born before independence when processing applications for Malaysian citizenship, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
"The bulk of the 133,436 pending applications for citizenship comprises those adopted at a very young age.
"They need to be given priority so that they can have easier access to services such as education and health," the Home Minister said after breaking fast at the state police contingent here on Thursday (April 13).
He said there were many parents or guardians who had been waiting for years to get citizenship for their adopted children.
Saifuddin said priority would also be given to those born before Merdeka as they too had been waiting for a long time.
"I have been made to understand that the number of applicants in this category is only around 3,000-plus and many of them are already in their 70s and 80s," he said.
His target, he said, was to ensure at least 10,000 applications are processed every year.
He said a total of 6,079 applications have been processed so far this year.
He said authorities would strictly adhere to provisions in the Federal Constitution when processing applications.
On a separate matter, Saifuddin said he has asked the National Registration Department (NRD) to reinvestigate the case of a 65-year-old cancer patient in Lawas, Sarawak whose identity card was allegedly seized when she went to change it.
"I have asked the DG (director-general) to reinvestigate the matter so we can assist the patient identified as Lina Samuel," he said.
Elaborating, he said the case actually happened in October 2019 when the woman was called in by the NRD after it discovered that her nationality in her daughter's birth certificate was listed as Indonesian.
"The NRD was only doing their job in investigating the matter as the woman was a MyKad holder.
"They merely wanted to know why her nationality was stated as Indonesian in her daughter's birth cert," he said, adding that the move was not to victimise the woman.
Saifuddin said the NRD had also called several other witnesses such as the village head where the woman lived to probe the matter.
"Her documents were impounded due to this," he said, adding that the NRD was made to look as if it was heartless for seizing her documents when she was fighting cancer.
"The NRD has met up with Lina and we need to put her papers in order first.
"So I have told the NRD to re-investigate this so that all the identification documents are in order," he said.
Lawyers for Liberty had also criticised the NRD for seizing Lina's identity card, describing it as an unlawful and unconstitutional move.
The Sarawak Health Department has also since denied that the woman was not given treatment.
Sabah Health Director Dr Ooi Choo Huck said Lina was under the care of a surgeon at Miri Hospital, who had performed several procedures on her between Feb 15 and March 20 this year.
She was also given an appointment for follow-up treatment at the hospital's specialist clinic on April 17.
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