KUCHING: The federal government is addressing statelessness at the policy level under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution, said Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.
Yii said this was confirmed by Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin during his recent visit here when he said that his ministry was reviewing and drafting a new standard operating procedure (SOP) for citizenship applications.
“This approach will ensure that all applications would be processed in a fair and transparent manner,” he said.
“There is no more need for a taskforce or committee to expedite them. It is not as if the applicants from Sarawak would be abandoned.”
On the discontinued special committee which was headed by Welfare, Community Well-being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, he said whatever it used to handle would be addressed at the policy level, meaning that the whole process would be made more transparent and quicker than what could be done via a taskforce or a committee.
However, in order to serve the locals better, as confirmed by the Muhyiddin himself, a special taskforce comprising Sarawak Pakatan Harapan leaders will continue to serve applicants from Sarawak.
This taskforce will have better and more direct contact with the National Registration Department and the Home Ministry.
“There is no ‘Project IC’ in Sarawak. We just want to take care of the stateless people many of whom have waited for years just to get proper identity documents,” Dr Yii said.
He stressed that without the documents, it is difficult to have access to education, jobs, travel overseas or even open a bank account.
The documents would eliminate discrimination against stateless people and improve their safety and security.
