4 senior citizens from Lawas get citizenship after decades - activist

Editor’s note: This article has been amended following clarification from Agnes.

Decades of hardship due to struggles for Malaysian citizenship have ended for four senior citizens from Lawas, Sarawak, as they finally obtained their identification cards from the National Registration Department (NRD).

When contacted, social activist Agnes Padan said she was informed by the recipients’ children that they finally received the long-awaited citizenship status update.

“It was a shock to me. Suddenly I received a message yesterday from one of the children, telling me ‘Thank you! I can only pray for you...’. She said her mother is finally a citizen.

“I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Everything was everywhere in my head,” said Agnes (above) who over the years had accompanied the recipients in their dealings with the NRD, as well as many others from the interiors of Lawas, in areas bordering Kalimantan, Indonesia.

According to Agnes, the four senior citizens who received their documents today are Sarlin Rining, Yohana Sinau, Ribka Palong, and Anderias Sia.

“All of them, the NRD previously took their MyKads, but finally returned them today,” she said, adding there had been no updates on their cases since last year.

Agnes said she had earlier today visited Sarlin who was born in 1948 in Long Bawan in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan before following her parents to the border town of Ba’Kelalan in Sarawak.

Many among the generation were illiterate with no formal birth records being kept, resulting in a large number of stateless senior citizens in the villages.

Sarlin, who is now in her mid-70s, was initially accorded a MyKad in April 2019, but just four months later, the document was withdrawn over concerns she had provided “false information” in her citizenship application.

The Lun Bawang people in Ba’kelalan are considered ethnically the same as the Krayan people in Long Bawan as they share a similar language, culture, and religion and cross-border marriages were very common.

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