KUALA LUMPUR: Padang Serai MP N Surendran today expressed shock that 12,667 children are stateless simply because their parents’ marriage was not registered.
Calling it a “national crisis”, he said the denial of citizenship to these children whose fathers were Malaysian citizens was a violation of the Federal Constitution.
He also urged Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the government to take urgent steps to address the situation.
Surendran said he had asked Zahid in the Dewan Rakyat to disclose the number of children in Malaysia whose father was a citizen and whose mother was a foreigner, and who had been denied citizenship on grounds that the parents’ marriage was not registered.
“Zahid said that based on records of the NRD (National Registration Department) as of Feb 25, 2018, there were 12,667 children denied citizenship on grounds that their parents’ marriage was not registered.
“This figure of 12,667 is based on NRD records only. The real figure is bound to be much higher.” Read more