Citizenship for stateless children: Emulate Sarawak, says Suhakam

KUCHING: All states in Malaysia should emulate Sarawak in its efforts to facilitate citizenship applications for cases involving stateless children.

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) Children’s Commissioner Dr Farah Nini Dusuki said as far as she is concerned, Sarawak is the only state that has set up a special task force in dealing with the stateless issue.

It is led by the state’s Women, Early Childhood and Community Well-being Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah.

With the taskforce, she said, it could expedite the process of granting citizenship to stateless children, allowing them to enjoy their rights and access to education, healthcare and welfare services.

As citizenship applications were under the purview of the federal government through the Home Ministry, thus, having a taskforce at the state-level can make things easier for the stateless children and their families.

“All other states should also set up such a taskforce, so that the children will not be deprived of their rights,” she added.

Farah was speaking at the opening of the Human Rights Festival Sarawak 2023 held at La Promenade Mall here Saturday.

Apart from that, she said, Sarawak’s one-stop teenage pregnancy centre to provide help and support for pregnant teenagers, has managed to reduce and prevent repetitive cases.

“In some cases, once the teenagers were pregnant once (underage), they tended to do it, so we are glad that the one-stop pregnancy centre, which is also under Fatimah’s ministry, is able to address this issue.

“Some of the girls even managed to return to school and continue their studies,” she said.

Farah also pointed out that systems and initiatives that aimed at supporting and assisting children must be led by dedicated teams and individuals, who are really committed in serving the community in order to tackle these issues effectively.

For instance, she said, the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Team, must deliver their services effectively and handle all cases properly.

“We want every child, who has been abused, to be handled immediately with necessary care and support,” she added.