Stateless Indians: 'Gov't is sincere, but those tasked with job are clueless'

The government is sincere about resolving the stateless Indians issue, but the parties tasked to do the job are "clueless", said MyDaftar special implementation task force coordinator N Siva Subramaniam.

Speaking to Malaysiakini recently, Siva cited a function organised by a special unit set up to resolve the issue, which was attended by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, in his capacity as the home minister.

"The poster hung at the function bore the face of (former home minister) Hishammuddin Hussein, instead of Zahid. Luckily, Zahid did not take offence at the mistake," he recalled.

Siva (photo) also lamented the fact that no guidance is given to those applying for documentation, nor is there follow-up by the relevant parties to the applications.

"When I was sitting at the function, I had applicants coming up to me and asking 'I have the forms with me, now what do I do?'

"This means the help given to them (to secure documentation) was just on the surface (level), and not thorough," he said.

However, Siva believes that the onus of settling the issue does not just fall on the government.

According to him, schools and teachers – especially in Tamil schools – can start by checking if their pupils have proper documentation, and if they do not, the teachers can help forward the cases to the relevant parties.

"Children without documentation is most worrying in this whole issue. This could deprive them of a good education, and their chances of having better lives ahead.

"I recently conducted a talk in a Tamil school in Batu Caves, and it was shocking to find out that there were at least 300 children with documentation issues. Another school in Klang had 350 cases.

"I gather that the Hulu Selangor area has a sizeable number of Indians, including children, who have such issues.

“This is where P Kamalanathan (photo), as both the MP of the constituency and the education minister, can play a role in addressing the matter."

Siva added that there are worrying numbers of children with documentation problems at orphanages nationwide.

Raising awareness is important

Individuals are also to be blamed for the issue, said Siva.

"There are some individuals who do not bother taking birth certificates for their newborn children, or change their children's identity cards to the new ones when they reach the age of 12.

"There are children born to foreign mothers and local fathers, who have documentation issues, as the country's system prioritises the mother's nationality," he added.

The low level of literacy among rural Indians and poverty are also contributing factors, he said.

"Many people are not aware of the importance of having proper documents to certify they are citizens of the country.

"Perhaps the dissemination of information should be better, so that the message gets through to the target group.

"Often, we hear jewellery shop advertisements in Tamil radio stations, which is widely heard by Indians in rural areas, estates and in the B40 group. How many of them can afford to splurge on jewellery when they are struggling to make ends meet?

“Why can't useful information, like the government's initiatives to help overcome the problem they are facing, be broadcast?" Siva asked.

He also could not pinpoint the exact number of Indians with documentation problems, which is a point of contention between the government and opposition lawmakers.

This is because the moment one problem gets settled, a few more crop up, he said.

Despite this, Siva lauded the National Registration Department (NRD) for doing an excellent job in handling the stateless Indians issue.

"They have some excellent officers. They are very patient and handle the applicants very well, and often, see the cases through."

But Siva believes further improvements can still be made.

One such improvement would be to get NRD officers to go to the ground to gauge the real situation and register applicants, instead of waiting for would-be applicants, who may have issues with transport, come to NRD offices.

It would also be of help if more Indians or Tamil-speaking officers are placed in the NRD and the Home Ministry to overcome the language hurdle, he added.

Bogged down by backlog

Siva said the moment a citizenship application is put before the NRD, it will be then forwarded to the police for a background check.

It then goes to the Immigration Department, to check if the applicant has any other citizenship, before it is passed back to the NRD for approval or rejection.

However, most of the applications get stuck at the police vetting level, as officers are already burdened with handling criminal cases, Siva said.

This is where the bottleneck happens, and the reason why some applications take months, or even years, to go through.

Siva added that politicians, including opposition lawmakers, can also play an active role in handling the issue.

"Instead of constantly bickering with the government about the number of stateless Indians, they can take it upon them to handle the cases themselves and pass the relevant information to the Home Ministry.

"For instance, the last time I met Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar, he had a file on his constituents with documentation problems, which was readily endorsed by the home minister, calling for immediate action from the NRD.

"The public is tired of politics.

“MPs should use their rights as an elected lawmakers to try and help their voters," Siva said, adding that he would personally try to fix an appointment to meet with Zahid to discuss the matter in the near future.

"I believe the government has the will to solve this issue. Citizenship is the birthright of a person born here, and such applications should be fast-tracked, regardless of the reasons they were not given in the first place."- Mkini