Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email The issue of Indians without proper identifications to prove their citizenship is resurfacing again. If one remembers correctly, MIC Youth are actively helping in settling problems related to birth certificate, identity cards, and citizenship. MIC’s Mohan have been handling this problem for more than 7 years, but his success rate is only between 6 and 7 percent (The Star).
Its current national coordinator, Mohan was quoted as saying in NST that a special unit is created to help reduce red tape to solve the stateless issue of 30,000 Indians (it was quoted as 20,000 in The Star). MIC is overwhelmed with the cases so far and have its hand fulls with about 500 cases being investigated.
It seems that those cases that appear in the media are fast-tracked, while others have to wait for a long time (well, don’t we know that!):
“The irony is that whenever we highlight individual cases in the media, NRD’s response in solving the cases is fast.
“People who go through the normal process of applying to the NRD are made to wait for decades.
“Thus, the urgent need to set up a special unit to handle these cases,” added Mohan.
Sakthivel was born in India but his late father, M. Annamalai, failed to register his birth with the Malaysian High Commission there.
While his four siblings are Malaysian citizens, unemployed Sakthivel had been in the country on a student passport, which his father had to renew annually.
“After my father’s death in 2001, my passport was not renewed and on Sept 3, when I went to the Immigration Department, I was given a month to leave the country,” Sakthivel said. “I’m at a loss as my family is here and I have no one in India.”
Another case encountered by MIC:
For some reason, the NRD omitted the names and IC numbers of her biological parents in her birth certificate (BC), printing the particulars at the back of the document instead.
“When my adoptive parents applied for my IC, I was given a red IC as the NRD refused to acknowledge the details of my biological parents printed at the back of my BC,” she said.
“I could not get a place in a public university or get a scholarship although I’m now being raised by my widowed mother.”
Third case:
My three children are overseas but I am unable to visit them as I fear my application for citizenship will be rescinded,” she said, adding that her siblings had been issued with MyKad.
Even in May this year, MIC through Mohan highlighted a case of two brothers who struggled NINE years for their MyKad.
I still remember plans to have special task forces and what nots, but after general elections, all quiet. Did the cabinet committee on Indian Community discuss about stateless issue as well?
Its disheartening to know that a party represented in the government are facing such problems. One shudders to think what the common person will face. If there’s any luck of highlighting your problem on TV, then solution may be available. If not, you may have to resort to corruptive means to solve your problems.
I’m interested to know if any PR representatives or politicians (especially in PR-led states) have recorded any success stories in the last 6 months relating to birth certificate, identity card, or citizenship issues. MIC’s Mohan is frank to admit that the success rate is very low, so we have to see how the “other side” has been doing in this short period.
If the PR representatives also respond in the negative (no or less success stories), it can mean:
1. not many Indians approached them (PR reps)
2. regardless of which side of the fence you are (PR or MIC), as an Indian, you carry no weight in the NRD offices.
3. The NRD staff (those involved) are not bothered to solve this problem.
Wonder why other races don’t have such problems in the scale that we have ? Just think about it….
While Indians seems to be very knowledgable about the Tamil cinema and politics, however when it comes to do simple things like registering birth, death, wedding and other important matters we seems to slip up.
You just cannot push the problem to MIC alone, people need to be made responsible for their own actions or lack of it.
BTW how come only MIC is doing something about it ? I heard there was a lot of talk by PR ppl in Selangor but after the GE, “abuk pun tarak”….yet another case of the marginalsation and betrayal of Indians by PR ?