The National Registration Department's policies are one of the leading causes behind the issue of statelessness, according to the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (DHRRA) Malaysia.

DHRRA, a voluntary nonprofit registered in 2006, claims to have solved 8,350 cases pertaining to birth certificates and identification cards.

Its president SM Saravanan told Malaysiakini that unclear policies and favouritism have exacerbated the situation.

“Though I don't fully blame NRD, I believe their policies are behind the unsolved citizenship issue, which has primarily affected the Indian community.

"Almost every NRD headquarters in every state has its own policies," he said, adding that there were cases where applications for citizenship were rejected in one state, but approved in another.

Saravanan also complained about NRD's decision to reject citizenship applications without stating valid reasons.

"NRD should provide an explanation to the applicants so that they can make amendments to the applications,” he said, as applicants commonly become frustrated and give up after their applications are rejected several times.

Saravanan also raised the department's rejection of citizenship applications for children whose parents are stateless.

"This is a critical issue. NRD and the Home Ministry should find a way for the children to obtain citizenship in Malaysia. Failing to solve this issue results in many of these children not being able to attend school,” he added.

Responding to a Malaysiakini report on Monday regarding 74-year-old S Letchumie – who waited for four years for NRD to issue her with citizenship but had her red identification card renewed instead – Saravanan said: “This is nothing new.”

He added that DHRRA is working to resolve Letchumie's status.

"There is a need to amend the law (regarding citizenship). Otherwise, the citizenship issue cannot be solved," he stressed.