Lawyers' group accuses Najib and NRD of failing to protect stateless Indian claimants.
PETALING
JAYA: Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) have accused Prime Minister Najib Tun
Razak and the National Registration Department (NRD) of failing to
protect stateless Indians in the country.
In a press statement yesterday, LFL co-founder and adviser, Eric
Paulsen, said Najib was ultimately responsible for the problem as the
NRD is a department under the Home Ministry and implements policies
decided by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.
He dismissed Special Implementation Taskforce (SITF) chairman N Siva
Subramaniam’s statement yesterday which suggested Najib and the NRD were
doing a good job in addressing the problem while blaming the Home
Ministry and, to a lesser extent, individuals affected.
“We are therefore at a loss as to how he [Siva] can praise the Prime
Minister when he is ultimately responsible for the citizenship policies
and practices in the country,” he said.
He added that the NRD was a government department responsible for
ensuring all bona fide Malaysians are registered and issued with
corresponding identity documents.
“Instead of recognising these people of Indian origin – born and bred
in Malaysia – they chose instead to perpetuate their statelessness by
discriminating against them and placing an unrealistic burden of proof
on them to “prove” their citizenship,” he claimed.
Citing the Sabah “citizenship-for-votes” scandal, Paulsen pointed out
that the Home Ministry and NRD have powers to simplify citizenship
procedures and requirement.
“…but it had been exercised improperly and with ulterior motives,” he said.
LFL accused BN and the NRD of “serious lack of concern and care” for people of Indian origin and other stateless communities.
“There is no genuine effort to register the affected communities nor
is there any special procedure provided to facilitate their registration
despite knowing the historical inequities and the context of their
present circumstances that have kept them stateless for generations,”
Paulsen said.
He added that Siva “should know better than to blame the affected
communities when he knows that the applications are usually hampered by
administrative obstacles, burdensome requirements, gross delays and
require repeated visits and interviews”.
“Even then, these cases are rarely resolved despite fulfilling the
general citizenship requirement and they are forced to continue living a
precarious and wretched existence without recognition as citizens.”
He urged BN and the NRD to immediately rectify the situation by
registering the affected communities under proper procedure for
nationals (as opposed to foreigners); simplifying the application
procedure and documentation requirement; and undertaking mobile
registration.
Yesterday, Siva said the issue of stateless Indians in the country is
aggravated by Home Ministry officials handling the matter and Indians
themselves who have a careless attitude.
He said that the major complaint was the “unfriendly” nature of Home Ministry officers when interviewing them.
He said the problem is further complicated by Indians, especially
those living in estates or rural areas, who do not register marriages or
birth.
Siva added these people are mostly uneducated as they could not afford formal education.
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