A different ball game in citizenship

Naturally a Malaysian dilemma: Krasniqi is now a Malaysian citizen after his application was fast-tracked. — Photo by FAM

The government seems to have scored an own goal in awarding citizenship to Kosovan footballer Liridon Krasniqi while some 30,000 Malaysia-born citizenship applicants remain stateless.

BEFORE getting to the point of my column this week, let me make it clear that I have been and still am a hard core football fan. Though it’s the wrong season to publicly announce that my team is Arsenal in the English Premier League, I have to do it to clear any doubt that I am anti-football like some. For your information, the Gunners are languishing in the middle of the table, a position that is alien to them.Let me also declare that I am fully aware that many countries naturalise top sports talents in a bid to perform better and win medals in international sports meets, including the Olympics. Although it is not widespread, the issue is discussed in many countries.

Some view it as an insult to home-grown talent, citing Jamaica which has a population of only three million but produces world champions time and again. Denmark, with a population of about five million, generates some of the world’s top badminton champions consistently.

A few countries have implemented fast-track admission programmes to attract highly skilled immigrants in the global race for talent. Again, there appears to be nothing wrong with this practice as it is one’s basic right to stay or leave one’s country of birth. There are many reasons why people choose to emigrate, while the receiving country may have valid reasons to offer citizenship.In sports, nationality swapping is commonly assumed to be a rapidly expanding practice that is indicative of the marketisation of citizenship. Sports is said to have become wholesale markets in which talent is being traded for citizenship. This talent migration appears to challenge the notion of citizenship.

Some say that nothing is wrong with Malaysia resorting to this. But there is a clear distinction here because unlike Malaysia, other countries that offer citizenship to lure sportsmen do not have tens of thousands of legitimate applicants waiting for answers. When Kosovan footballer Liridon Krasniqi received his Malaysian citizenship a week ago, it looked all good and acceptable because a world-class footballer will soon be representing our national team, Harimau Malaysia, which sorely needs more bite.

However, some have questioned the legitimacy of the citizenship as he had only resided in the country for less than five years at the time he was given a MyKad. Actually, he might not even be eligible for permanent resident status, which requires a minimum of five years’ stay. People are asking who could have waived the strict Constitutional requirement that others have to fulfil. And why thousands of others who had applied for citizenship years ago and had met the necessary conditions are still waiting.

A look at Article 19(3) of the Federal Constitution makes me wonder what is so special about an international footballer that his application is fast-tracked. The clause clearly states that a person must reside in Malaysia for a total of not less than 10 years in the 12 years immediately preceding the date of the application.

Here, an important question begs to be answered about this Johor footballer who reportedly came to Malaysia only in April 2015. Who could have pushed for the approval of an application that was obviously ultra vires the Constitution?

Krasniqi is apparently among 15 foreign footballers who have been naturalised and are now Malaysian citizens. But some of them had one Malaysian parent although they were legally non-citizens.

Mind you, I would still ask the same questions even if the world’s best footballer, Lionel Messi, were to be given a Malaysian citizenship without fulfilling the criteria spelt out. Some may argue that this is a very minor issue because, on the surface, it does not seem to affect Malaysians generally as these “fast-trackers” are not depriving others of any benefits.

Try telling this to the 30,000 applicants for citizenship who were born in Malaysia but, for reasons beyond their control, do not have the birth documents that are mandatory to obtain the national identity card. Some have been waiting for decades, and are still waiting.

Then there are the legitimate foreign spouses of Malaysians, who are gainfully employed and still waiting for ages despite being here for decades, with some even paying taxes.

Don’t get me wrong, to emigrate is a person’s right, as long as it is within the law and proper vetting is carried out by the authorities of the accepting country.

But it is totally unacceptable if the government practices double standards by offering special privileges to foreign footballers and the spouses of VVIPs who are only here to make the big bucks while letting others with more legitimate claims wait this long.

This is the same government that made a pledge in its manifesto to resolve the problems of stateless citizens who were born here, within 100 days of forming the government. It is now already more than 600 days and counting. For your information, this promise does not require money or a two-thirds majority in Parliament to fulfil.

Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto who is part of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee for Gender Equality and Family Development, says the inconsistency in the speed and manner of Krasniqi’s citizenship is “mystifying and incomprehensible”.

Last year, she says the Welfare Department recorded 1,933 stateless children under the age of 18 in homes nationwide, comprising 1,098 boys and 835 girls.

“In the event these children are not awarded citizenship by the age of 18, they step out into the world as undocumented, stateless and status-less adults. We have then to admit that we have failed these innocent children.

“In spite of a change in government after the 14th General Election, hidden hands seem to prevail and monopolise the awarding of citizenship to certain people, bending rules and also contradicting the spirit of laws in the country that everyone else is subject to.”

We need desperately to overhaul many systems in our country to get rid of the areas where the haves get priority over the have-nots. This is definitely the case here.

The onus is on the government now to explain the extenuating circumstances that led to the fast-tracking of Krasniqi’s application.

If there are none, I believe the 30,000 applicants still waiting should have their applications fast-tracked to shut critics’ mouths once and for all.

K. Parkaran was a deputy editor at The Star and producer at Aljazeera TV. The views expressed here are solely his own.