Court declares abandoned orphan a Malaysian citizen

An orphan abandoned by her parents 39 years ago is finally made a citizen of Malaysia.

Hashimah (above, centre)succeeded in her challenge before the Kuala Lumpur High Court to quash the National Registration Department’s (NRD) refusal of her citizenship application.

The 39-year-old woman’s legal victory yesterday was confirmed by a media statement released by Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today.

According to LFL, Hashimah was born on Jan 9, 1983, and the police found her being abandoned by her biological parents during a raid that same year.

“She was only three months old at the time and subsequently lived in orphanages throughout her whole life as she was never adopted.

“The identity of Hashimah’s biological parents remains unknown. Despite numerous attempts by Hashimah to identify and locate her biological parents, they were to no avail.

“As she was a stateless individual as a result of being an abandoned child, Hashimah then on Feb 25, 2020, applied for Malaysian citizenship pursuant to Article 14(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution.

“That application for citizenship was rejected by NRD on July 29, 2020,” LFL said, adding that she then filed her judicial review application at the High Court on Oct 19 that same year.

The group said that judge Amarjeet Singh in his decision declared “Hashimah as a Malaysian citizen by operation of law”.

“The High Court further ordered NRD to issue Hashimah with a citizenship certificate and a Malaysian identification card,” LFL said.

Counsel Latheefa Koya and Shahid Adli Kamarudin acted for Hashimah who is the applicant.

The two respondents targeted by the legal action, the home minister and NRD, were represented by senior federal counsel Nik Isfahanie Tasnim W Ab Rahman.

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