Stateless No More!

‘12 million’ stateless people globally, warns UNHCR chief in call to States for decisive action

By Evelyn Kristel

*Note: This is not her real name*

October 8, 2024 is the day that brought tears to my eyes. No, it wasn’t because I was sad but these were tears of joy, tears of excitement

This was the moment I have been looking forward since 2017. It was a long wait of over eight years. I received a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding my application for citizenship under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution.

Finally, my Malaysian citizenship was approved at last!

Indeed, it has been a long journey for me, through all the struggles that I had to endure as a stateless person in a country where I was born, but could not refer to it as ‘my country.’

Now, I am proudly a Malaysian, thanks to the Minister of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and his team at KDN for looking into my long-awaited citizenship application.

They have put in a lot of hardwork to solve this issue of statelessness in Malaysia affecting many applicants in a similar position as me.

Because of his act of kindness made possible because of the Madani government, we no longer have to face the struggles which I used had to experience being stateless.

I count it a blessing to be able to enjoy the privileges as a proud Malaysian. There are simply no words to express how much joy this brings to me and my family.

Being a stateless person, I never had any proper documents of identification, not a passport nor an identity card. This is something that people take for granted, but as stateless people, we encounter a great deal of difficulties when we enrol into schools, colleges and universities.

Unlike most Malaysians enjoying free medical treatment, my family had to pay all expenses including medical treatment in a government hospital and the extra fees for my education.

Asides from that, other struggles such as opening a bank account, obtaining a driving license, and also whenever I have to travel from one state to another, there was always the fear of not having any proper identification documents to move around.

You feel “trapped” in your own country with nowhere to turn to. This is one reason I believe Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution is God-sent to help many stateless people like me.

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