Three stateless children continuously threatened with being denied schooling
Three stateless children of a Malaysian man and Indonesian woman in Penang continues to be threatened with being denied access to schooling as they have yet to obtain Malaysian citizenship, says non-government organisation Freedom.
Its chairperson, N Ganesan said the parent of the children, M Vengadeswaran, has to keep submitting documents to the state education department or the kids would be denied schooling.
"This is something they had to do at least 10 times since they attained school-going age some eight years ago," Ganesan told Malaysiakini.
Three stateless children of a Malaysian man and Indonesian woman in Penang continues to be threatened with being denied access to schooling as they have yet to obtain Malaysian citizenship, says non-government organisation Freedom.
Its chairperson, N Ganesan said the parent of the children, M Vengadeswaran, has to keep submitting documents to the state education department or the kids would be denied schooling.
"This is something they had to do at least 10 times since they attained school-going age some eight years ago," Ganesan told Malaysiakini.
"He (the parent) had to produce the same documents about the children each time so that they would not be denied an education.
"What mindless system. This is the great saga of New Malaysia," Ganesan lamented.
Ganesan accompanied the single parent to the state education department today to try and resolve the matter.
The children, whose mother has since left, were born out of wedlock and are categorised as illegitimate children.
On Jan 25, 2017, Vengadeswaran's plight came to light when his children's school principal stopped them from attending classes as they were not citizens.
He told to refer to the Education Department and check the status of the children with the National Registration Department (NRD).
Vengadeswaran complied, and he even carried out a DNA test to prove the three children were his as the birth certificates did not carry his nor his wife’s name and their citizenship were not stated.
Ganesan said the children have become "victims of our insensitive system" that stubbornly refuses to grant them their fundamental right of citizenship.
He chided the Pakatan Harapan government and urged them to own up that they are no different from the previous government other than the 1MDB fiasco.
Ganesan said their policies towards the common people is no different than before the elections last May.
He said Freedom has submitted a petition requesting amendments to the constitutional stipulation denying fundamental citizenship rights to illegitimate children.
Ganesan noted that the constitution allows for amendments without requiring a two-thirds majority.
"But nothing has materialised from it, and we do not think anything will. We are fast coming to the belief that the Institutional Reform Committee is nothing more than mere eyewash," Ganesan said.
Meanwhile, Ganesan said issues in Malaysia are always projected as Malay, Indian or Chinese issues, but the country's governance is deteriorating because of these racial distortions.
" And this is occurring across the entire political system. This stateless problem, this denial of fundamental citizenship and educational rights are eroding the very fabric of our society.
"But the real significance of all this is being washed away in the ethnic tides that keep washing up on our shores daily. The narratives in our country have to change," he said.
In April, the Education Ministry called on all NGOs to help children without identification documents to register with the NRD and enable them to be enrolled in government schools.
Its minister, Maszlee Malik said the efforts could be implemented by the NGOs in collaboration with the National Registration Department, District Education Office and Social Welfare Department.
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