On track to dealing with 10,000 citizenship bids

A place to call home: Saifuddin Nasution (third, left) presenting a certificate of citizenship to a child at the Home Affairs Ministry’s Madani programme in Bandar Tun Razak, KL, with Dr Wan Azizah. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: Decisions on 9,539 citizenship applications were made as of September this year, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

The Home Minister said the ministry is on course to reach its target of making decisions on at least 10,000 applications.

“The government, through the ministry, is committed to considering every citizenship application fairly.

“Granting citizenship to non-citizens is the highest award and exclusive right of the Federal Government, thus it cannot be given easily,” he said after attending the ministry’s Madani programme at Bandar Tun Razak yesterday.

The event saw 19 people being granted citizenships.

The Prime Minister’s wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also Bandar Tun Razak MP, also attended the event.

Saifuddin Nasution said the process to amend the Federal Constitution with regards to citizenship rights is going smoothly and is on schedule.

“Engagements with relevant stakeholders are also ongoing and we hope we will be able to table the proposed amendments during the coming Parliament session,” he said.

On a separate matter, Saifuddin Nasution said the government has not made any decision on bringing back two Malaysians being held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He said the government has just started discussions on the matter with US authorities.

“It is still early ... so there is no conclusion or decision yet. We will inform [the press] if there is any development,” he said.

Mohammed Nazir Lep and Mohammed Farik Amin were arrested for their role in the Bali and Jakarta bombings in 2002 and 2003, respectively.