KUCHING: Almost 100 people attended the briefing on ordinance relating to the adoption of undocumented children.
Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Datuk Hajah Fatimah Abdullah officiated at the open ceremony of the briefing held at the Waterfront Hotel yesterday.
“If a child comes from a poor family, he or she gets to enjoy certain schooling benefits such as free text books and school fees.
“But if the children don’t have the proper legal documents or they are not confirmed as citizens of the country, that is when it becomes a problem,” said Fatimah.
She said there was a need for her ministry, the state National Registration Department, the state Education Department and other relevant authorities to put their heads together to iron out the various issues that come up due to such problems.
“Citizenship should be valued and only when we don’t have it, then we realise how important it is,” she said.
Fatimah said the briefing was to address the issue of adoption of non-documented children whose citizenship status not determined, to standardise the procedure of registering the adoption of such children, and to enhance the knowledge of participants with regards to matters relating to adoption in Islam, citizenship and registration of birth after the adoption process through engagement with other government agencies.
“Legal issues we intend to deal with include whether a child who is a non-citizen or has undetermined citizenship can be adopted, whether that child will be a Malaysian citizen upon adoption by a Malaysian, and what the status of adopted child is in Islam and how an illegitimate child will be named upon adoption,” she said.
She said they hoped to have a clearer understanding on the legal position with regards to the adoption of these children, including the standard procedure of registering these children.
“We also hope to have better knowledge with regards to matters related to adoption in Islam, citizenship, and registration of birth after the adoption process.
“At the same time, we also want to come up with standard operating procedure to be practised by all District Officers in registering the adoption of these children and to highlight new issues pertaining to adoption which will crop up in the near future,” she said.
