70,000 Dayaks fail in bid to get MyKads

By Joe Fernandez
KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Federal Regional Development Minister Joseph Entulu Belaun estimates that at least 40,000 Dayaks in Sarawak have no birth certificates, and hence no MyKads, and a further 30,000 who have neither birth certificate nor MyKad.
The Selangau MP includes his constituency as among the many in Sarawak saddled with the problem which takes students out of school at Year Six and maroons them in the villages for fear of being arrested by the police.

“There are at least 500 to 600 people in Selangau alone who either have no birth certificates, and therefore no MyKads, or have the document but no MyKads,” said Entulu.

He was elaborating on the plight of an Iban family which was highlighted in the local media yesterday. Apparently, they travelled from Tamin earlier this week to seek his help after repeatedly failing to obtain their birth certificates and MyKads. They made the long trek from the Rumah Nyawin Judi Longhouse along the 36th mile, Sibu-Bintulu road.

Among them is odd-job labourer Matlious Mawah, 20, who has no identification papers and has been arrested many times at the construction site in Sungei Maong, Kuching, where he works. “My stepfather, who is working in Kuching, has to come to the police station each time I am arrested, to explain and get me out,” said Matlious to the local media yesterday. “I am considered stateless.”

On another occasion, he was released from detention after the police took the BCG (anti-tuberculosis) vaccination scar found on his upper left arm as proof that he is Malaysian. Unlike neighbouring countries, except Singapore, infants are routinely given BCG jabs at birth at all clinics and hospitals throughout the country.

Matlious dropped out of school when he was in Year 6 since he couldn’t take government examinations like the UPSR (Year 6), PMR (Form 3), SPM (Form 5) and STPM (Form 6), without personal documents.

Matlious’s mother, Merejok Nyalong, 38, also has no personal documents because her “citizenship status could not be determined”. She did not apply for a birth certificate for her son because she did not have one either since her mother had no marriage documents. “My mother tried applying several times for me but was rejected,” said Mawah.

Complicated cases

Entulu discovered that both Matlious and his mother were “complicated cases” since the duo were born out of wedlock. Mawah’s biological mother, Lawi Nabong, 60, has a birth certificate and MyKad. Entulu plans to help both Matlious and Mawah to submit another application to the National Registration Department (NRD) for their personal documents. “I hope the NRD will look into their case again as they are genuine Sarawakians,” said Entulu.

According to the MP, many of the other complainants that he had come across have applied not once but several times for their personal documents and been rejected “for no rhyme or reason”. He urged both the federal and state governments to work together to resolve the problem of Malaysians with no personal documents.

Entulu thinks the Home Ministry should consider including a provision for DNA tests in the National Registration Act “to verify the authenticity of applicants for late registration”.

Alternatively, he suggested that the NRD seek the assistance of village and longhouse headmen, penghulu and state assemblymen “to endorse late applications as part of its registration exercise”.

“At present, I can only appeal to the Home Minister on behalf of my constituents who have no personal documents despite being born in Sarawak because their parents too have no documents,” said Entulu. “This is the result of illiteracy and communication problems.”

Those without personal documents were in a legal twilight zone, said Entulu, and besides farming were resigned to working as odd-job labourers after dropping out from school in Year 6 or earlier.

Rule book

The Sarawak Indigenous Lawyers Association (SILA), it is learnt, offered to help the NRD earlier this year to resolve the problem of stateless people in the state. The NRD is yet to respond.

The SILA feels that the NRD should be staffed by better qualified personnel “who know how to exercise their discretion in resolving the problem of the stateless in Sarawak”. This means not sticking rigidly by the rule book, said a SILA spokesman. “NRD should accept other evidence not covered in the rule book as proof of citizenship.”

For instance, SILA wants the NRD in Sarawak to follow its counterpart in Sabah and not make it mandatory for the marriage certificate to be produced before a child can be given a birth certificate. In cases of non-Muslim-Muslim marriages, it was pointed out, there are no marriage certificates “when a couple chose to live in sin and produce children”.

In Kota Kinabalu, the NRD has tabulated that 130,134 “eligible Sabahans” aged between 12 and 16, as at July 31, this year have yet to apply for the MyKad. It’s not known how the NRD arrived at the figure which is even higher than that in Sarawak.

One recurrent problem, according to reliable sources, is that illegal immigrants who collect their MyKads via the backdoor often return with their entire families to their traditional villages in the neighbouring countries. This could be one reason why many so-called eligible Sabahans don’t apply for their MyKads, added the source.

Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.Com