The Penang government has handled about 200 cases of "stateless Malaysians" in recent years and the fact the numbers are not going down frustrates Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy.

"Our committee worked very hard to address the statelessness (issue), but there has been no major impact apart from changing the lives of 42 people," he told a press conference today.

Ramasamy, who heads the state government's Citizenship Assistance Committee, said the main stumbling block has been the National Registration Department (NRD).

He said that since 2013, the committee had been approached by about 870 people of which it was able to help prepare documents for 244, but there were too few success stories.

"The NRD is the biggest stumbling block in resolving cases of stateless persons... It has no political will to resolve the issue," he said.

Tragic situation

In view of this, he urged Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whose portfolio includes the NRD, to rectify the situation.

Meanwhile, Ramasamy today handed birth certificates to five children from the Sinar Bakti orphanage and a MyKad to 60-year-old woman P Sarojini.

Sarojini told reporters that she was happy after having undergone a lengthy process.

The Citizenship Assistance Committee was formed in February 2013. As of June 2016, the committee has handled 870 cases.

He described the situation as "tragic" because Malaysians should not be denied their fundamental right to citizenship.

"We have Malaysians who are declared stateless but there are outsiders who are given generous citizenships or are made permanent residents," he said.