SIBU: Since the end of 2021, many people in Sarawak have been granted Malaysian citizenship but were denied the “K” indicator in their identity cards.
According to Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) Political Education Bureau director Irene Chang, she personally knew of at least 10 such cases.
“A lot of people may not be aware that this “K” indicator on their ICs is important to identify them as Sarawakians as only Sarawakians have a “K” at the bottom right corner of their ICs.
“Sabahans have a “H” on their ICs while West Malaysians have no letter indicator at all on their ICs.
“Although these successful applicants were able to have their Malaysian ICs issued by JPN, they were denied the “K” indicator as they were told that they could not be recognised as Sarawakians on the ground that they had no Sarawak connection as their biological parents were not known,” she stated in a press statement here yesterday (Mar 26).
The former Bukit Assek assemblywoman said without the status of being a Sarawakian would definitely bring many practical problems to these persons as they would then be officially recognised as West Malaysians.
“With our state immigration laws which disallow non-Sarawakians from staying in the state indefinitely, these persons would need to leave Sarawak every three months to renew their visa to stay in the state,” she said.
Besides being hugely inconvenient, she said this was problematic as a number of these children came from poor families and did not have the financial means to travel in and out of Sarawak every three months.
And in order to be gainfully employed in the state in the future, they would need a work permit, which would pose practical inconveniences and difficulties, she said.
“On August 20, 2021, I have written to the Sarawak State Secretary on this issue. However, there has been no response. I have also brought this matter up with the Sarawak State AG Chambers and the Minister for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development. Again, there has been no positive response even though the honourable minister did assure us that they would look into this.
“JPN Sibu has also assisted to forward several applications for the “K” indicator to be inserted into the ICs of the applicants to Sarawak Immigration Department. Similarly, there has been no response so far.
“The reason provided for the absence of the “K” indicator in these children’s Malaysian Identity Cards (i.e. biological parents are unknown and
hence the Sarawak connection cannot be established) is not
reasonable,” she said.
According to her, these children have been abandoned since birth and have no means of locating their biological parents.
Furthermore, she pointed out that they have been legally adopted and have fulfilled the conditions of Sarawak Connection which is a pre-requisite for a successful adoption of these children by Sarawakians.
Chang claimed that the adoptions had been registered at the District Office, thus the Sarawak government should recognise them as Sarawakians.
“These successful applicants should not be denied their status as Sarawakians. They should not be denied the “K” indicator in their Malaysian Identity Cards.
“It is also inconceivable how these successful applicants could transcend from being stateless to being West Malaysians when they have been staying in Sarawak for the whole of their lives due to the fact that previously they had been immobile due to lack of personal documents.
“I therefore urge the state government to not deny these persons their joy of finally been granted Malaysian citizenship by granting them the Sarawakian status,” Chang added.
