Statelessness in Malaysia is not a new phenomenon. It has been in existence for quite some time in our multiracial and multicultural country.
Since end-2018, a startling number of 12,400 stateless persons has been recorded in West Malaysia (UNHCR Report).
The condition of statelessness in East Malaysia is even worse and the actual number remains unknown due to the mixed migratory population in the indigenous regions.
At present, the most common issues encountered by stateless persons are the denial of fundamental rights of citizens such as the right to travel, education and healthcare.
Six categories of stateless persons have been identified in Malaysia:
Persons with a long-standing residence since pre-independence and their descendants;
People who lack documentation;
Abandoned children or foundlings and adopted children;
Children of "mixed marriages" or alternative families and cases where children are born out of wedlock or before the cultural marriage was registered;
Indigenous persons; and,
Refugees or children of migrant workers.
Although this issue has been raised by various groups and concerned citizens, the government has not been aggressive in addressing it.
There seems to be a reticence seen from the Malaysian government's reservation pertaining to Article 7(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989, and the non-ratification of Article 24 of the 1966 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which secures the right to education, name and nationality.
However, that said, the government has initiated some positive moves towards efforts to grant citizenship to stateless persons. The Malaysian Indian Blueprint April 2017, the Mega MyDaftar and outreach programme facilitated registration and citizenship application led by the Special Implementation Task Force.
What remains is that there has to be a clear framework to address these initiatives in the long-term so that they do not take the flavour of being a short or seasonal initiative.
Among the ways that can be adopted are:
Ratification of International Treaties. It is proposed that Wisma Putra ratify Article 7(1) of the UNCRC 1989, and Article 24(2) of the 1966 ICCPR. Via these ratifications, it will inevitably strengthen Malaysia's undertaking to protect stateless children here.
Long-term birth registration campaign. Clear implementation and enforcement of a long-term birth registration campaign that is similar to the Malaysian Indian Blueprint launched in 2017 and the MyDaftar initiative.
Awareness campaign on statelessness. There should be more awareness campaigns on the issue especially those in the rural areas to bring this issue to the public eye.
The reasons for statelessness increasing are due to lack of documentation, irregularity of marriage, which leads to unregistered births (born out of wedlock), and failure to register newborn babies with the National Registration Department.
To conclude, the issue of stateless persons is not uncommon in our society. It is high time for us to take the bull by the horns and address the issue.
DAVID LEE CHEE HOU
Final year student
Faculty of Law, University Malaya
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times