Govt: Barely 1pct of M'sian citizenship given to China nationals since 2010

Summary

• Home Ministry clarifies that Chinese nationals make up less than one percent of those who received citizenship between 2010 and 2024.

• Indonesians make up the bulk of those granted Malaysian citizenship, while Filipinos are the largest group of foreigners granted permanent resident status within the same period.

China nationals make up less than one percent of those granted Malaysian citizenship over the past 14 years, the Home Ministry confirmed.

In a parliamentary written reply dated March 6, the ministry said records from the National Registration Department showed that between 2010 and 2024, only 0.91 percent of Malaysian citizenship approvals were for individuals from China.

Indonesia topped the list, making up 23.52 percent of foreigners receiving citizenship in the period, followed by India (6.76 percent), Thailand (5.02 percent), and the Philippines (2.77 percent).

The ministry said 61.02 percent of those who received citizenship in that period were categorised under “others” (lain-lain), in its reply to a query from Bersatu’s Putrajaya MP Radzi Jidin.

The ministry did not provide the total number of approved citizenships from which the percentages were derived.

On Nov 7 last year, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat that since 2013, only 203 Chinese nationals had been granted Malaysian citizenship under Section 15(1) and Section 19(1) of the Federal Constitution.

The minister said the figure was contrary to an oft-repeated claim that some 1.2 million Chinese nationals entered the country but never left and were subsequently granted citizenship.

He also highlighted that the same claim was previously denied by his predecessors, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin and Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin, when they were in office.

On Nov 9, Saifuddin said police would investigate the “highly regrettable” incident of a khatib allegedly spreading false claims that Malaysia had granted citizenship en masse to 1.2 million Chinese nationals.

The religious figure reportedly issued the allegation during a Friday prayer sermon at a mosque in Padang Serai.

Permanent resident status 

The Home Ministry revealed that between 2010 and 2024, 35.55 percent of permanent resident status (MyPR) was given to Filipino nationals, followed by Indonesia (26.38 percent), Thailand (8.73 percent), India (5.99 percent), and Singapore (2.72 percent). 

Permanent resident status was also granted to 20.63 percent of individuals from other unmentioned nations.

“The issuance of MyPR is in accordance with Regulation 3 of the National Registration Regulations 1980 (Amended 2007). 

“The regulation stipulates that every individual with permanent resident status is required to register and obtain an identity card within 30 days from the date of reaching 12 years old or from the date stated on the entry permit issued by the Immigration Department,” it added.

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