Stateless people are the Elephant in the Room

By Stephen Ng

I WISH to thank both Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and especially Minister of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail as well as his former political secretary, Johari Kassim who have worked diligently to solve the problem of stateless people.

        Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

        Yet, people are more precious in the eyes of the Almighty. The unity government has undertaken a task that no other governments in the past wanted to look into – the plight of over a hundred thousand stateless people in the country.

Background

        This problem, which resulted from the amendment to the federal constitution from jus soli to jus sanguinis, has robbed these stateless people of a good future.

        As we look back to the parliamentary debate on January 31, 1962 (refer Hansard Vol III (42)), it is obvious that the amendments were made in response to the need to address certain contemporary issues faced by the nation.

        This may be the blind spot experienced by many of these well-meaning parliamentarians sitting in the third session of the first Dewan Rakyat in 1962.

        However, because of this minor adjustment, this has put many people into a connundrum that neither they, nor the government of the day, could solve.

Born here

        Most of them are born here, having no other country that they can call their own. Whether born out of wedlock or abandoned, these babies do not deserve to be stateless. 

        Due to a lack of education in the rural areas, there are also many of these children whose parents did not register them when they were born.

        Therefore, without the valid citizenship documents, they are deprived of all the facilities and privileges that we take for granted.    

        For this reason, any amendment to the federal constitution has to take into consideration the views of different stakeholders, especially those who are our friends, not foes. I believe this is the aims of the Madani government.

Getting it Right the First Time

        Wisdom is what our lawmakers need when passing laws that may either provide a good solution to the stateless people or cause further woes to their plight. Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

        The test of one's character is the ability to listen to good and well-meaning counsellors. This builds bridges. 

        Otherwise, what may appear to solve some unique problems in Sabah, for example, may turn out to be a woe for thousands of other stateless people for the next six decades. We will not be able to leave this world with a clear conscience.

KDN, A Fountain of Mercy

        The number of stateless people has built up to such an extent that it will take Saifuddin Nasution’s ministry and the National Registration Department (JPN) at least ten years to clean up.

        But during this period, the fruitful years of many a stateless people, would be wasted away. Without proper citizenship documents, they may lose out on the best job offers even though they could be best suited for the job. As a result, they are unable to contribute to the growth domestic products (GDP) of the country.

        For this reason, the unity government which upholds the Madani principles, must be congratulated for taking a bold step to amend the federal constitution; however, it should avoid what happened in 1962 and engage in consultation with the good people who are able to provide a better view of how big the elephant is in the room.