KUCHING: Siblings Johnness Bejie and his sister Amatassia can rest assured that they would be getting their identity cards soon.
The Women, Childhood and Community Well-being Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah is confident the process will not be a problem given that their older siblings already have identity cards.
“What is important is that both of them must have birth certificates to facilitate this process and, alhamdulillah, they have birth certificates and are citizens.
“I was made to understand that their older siblings already have identity cards so this will help strengthen their case,” she told reporters after attending a pre-Chinese New Year celebration with the Salvation Army and The Boys Home at Pullman Hotel here on Monday.
Elaborating, Fatimah said since Johnness and Amatassia had reached the age of 20, they had to apply for late registration of identity card.
She added both had chosen their older married brother, who now lives in Sri Aman, as their sponsor.
“There are several other conditions that need to be met before we take them to the National Registration Department (NRD).
“I will make sure all the necessary conditions as well as all the important documents have been completed before we invite their sponsor (older brother) to come to Kuching.
“If all is well, then we just have to go to a panel, which will decide whether their application is accepted or rejected,” she explained.
When asked about the time frame for the process, Fatimah said if all the conditions and documents had been completed and there was strong evidence to support them as coming from the longhouse (in Sri Aman), then the process would not take long.
“It will take time if they are not citizens as this is not decided at the state level but at the Home Ministry level.
“We hope the panel will be able to convene quickly and be able to give approval so that their identity cards can be issued as soon as possible,” she pointed out.
In this regard, she called on parents to always immediately register the birth of their child so that they can get a birth certificate.
“After the children reach the age of 12, they have to apply for identity cards for them.
“Whatever the problem it can be overcome — what is important at the moment is to prioritise the welfare and well-being of these two siblings,” she said.
Without identity cards, Johnness and Amatassia, though Sarawakians, had quit school and have also been unable to buy a mobile phone SIMcard or even open a bank account.
The two siblings have had it tough after being abandoned by their biological mother when they were small.
They then lived with their father until their teens but their father, who was remarried and moved away, purportedly did not really care about them, leading to their uncle and aunt raising both of them as adopted children.
Previously, the two had applied for identity cards but failed because the birth certificate did not state any information about their biological mother.
