KUALA LUMPUR – The Home Ministry prioritises citizenship applications for stateless and adopted children, says Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution.
He said the following applications from these two categories are the highest so far, followed by applications from children born abroad to citizen mothers and non-citizen fathers.
“When I looked at the application data, applications for children born out of wedlock are the highest. These children should not be forgotten due to their parents’ fault.
“So we are processing these cases fast. Last year, we set a key performance indicator (KPI) of completing 14,000 cases, and we reached it exactly in December 2023. Now, that figure has surpassed 15,000.
“With last year’s target achieved, we aim to maintain the same momentum this year,” he said.
Saifuddin was speaking to reporters after attending a community event with the Indian community at Sungai Bakap, Penang, today.
He also said that citizenship applications under the naturalisation category and local citizens marrying foreigners are very few.
Saifuddin also assured that he would help resolve the citizenship issues faced by the residents of Sungai Bakap, particularly the Indian community, if Dr Joohari Ariffin, the candidate representing the Unity Government in the by-election, is elected to represent the people.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin also confirmed that the police had received a report about the leak regarding the investigation of the murder of autistic child Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matiin, and the matter was being investigated.
The police report followed a leak of purported police investigation details, less than 24 hours after Zayn Rayyan’s parents pleaded not guilty to a charge of neglecting their child.
The Telegram group had uploaded what it claimed were statements taken by investigators from both parents.
When asked whether the government would block the Telegram platform following the leak, Saifuddin said he left the decision to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil. – June 16, 2024
