Anti-immigration activist Dr Chong Eng Leong has renewed charges that the National Registration Department is running foul of various laws in the issuance of green MyKads to approved new applicants and the renewal of existing cards.

Dr Chong, formerly a PBS supreme council senior member, left the party after it re-joined Barisan Nasional and took a softer stance on the issue of illegal immigrants, among others.

suhakam roundtable kk sabah 020806 dr chong eng leong "The NRD stressed in today’s newspapers that it is complying with NRD regulations in issuing green MyKads to ‘stateless’ foreigners with Malaysian birth certificates," fumed Dr Chong.

"I would like to ask the NRD to show where in these regulations is the provision to issue green identity cards to stateless foreigners born in Malaysia.

"If a stateless foreigner is born in Malaysia, you must ask who the parents are. If the parents are foreigners, then the child follows the nationality of the parents, and is not stateless.

"If the parents are paperless illegal immigrants, then the child is also an illegal resident in Malaysia," he said.

Dr Chong also wants to know whether late registration of birth certificates have been verified in court by a First Class Magistrate as stipulated in the Sabah Birth and Deaths Ordinance and whether Sabahans who are still not considered Malaysian citizens, because of red tape, are being placated with green MyKads when they are entitled to blue ones.

The state NRD in Kota Kinabalu meanwhile maintains that the issuance of green MyKads, including to "stateless" foreigners in Sabah, is being done in accordance to relevant laws.

Specifically, the issuance of green MyKads - denoting temporary residence - is in line with the National Registration Act 1959 (Act 78) read in conjunction with the National Registration Regulations 1990, the state NRD clarified in a brief statement yesterday.

The four other kinds of MyKads generally issued are blue for citizens, MyKid for children aged below 12, red for permanent residents and brown for convicted criminals.

The state NRD was responding to various allegations by Dr Chong as well as others, including Sabah PKR chief Dr Jeffrey Gimpoi Kitingan, and state assemblypersons Harman Ibrahim (Sulabayan) and Pang Yuk Ming (Merotai).

Comprehensive plan needed

Green MyKads, said Dr Chong, should not be issued to those who hold the IMM13 refugee status card, foreigners with a passport and sponsored by someone entitled to do so, and paperless or illegal immigrants or other children born in Malaysia, even if they are stateless, because they did not enter Malaysia lawfully.

"So, why is the NRD doing something against the regulations just because they are directed by the home minister?" asked Dr Chong.

illegal immigrants roundup 010305 patiently waiting "The federal government must have a comprehensive plan to tackle the problem of foreigners with dubious identification papers. Not an ad hoc exercise like what is going on now."

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar had recently pledged that "everyone in Malaysia would have an identity card, but not necessarily a Malaysian one" when agreeing to accept applications for green MyKads.

Applications for green MyKads, stopped in 2004, were re-opened to applicants nationwide from Nov 15. The green MyKads are expected to make it easier for holders to enter into transactions involving money, banking and other matters for which an identification card is essential in the absence of a passport.

Seventeen thousand hopeful applicants have turned up at NRD offices throughout Sabah since applications were re-opened.

Of the 17,000 applicants, only 1,272 applications have been approved and the rest rejected. Among the rejections are 91 newly-arrived illegal immigrants from the Philippines who were arrested at the Tawau office last week and referred to the Immigration Department for immediate deportation.

These figures were presented by Sabah state secretary Datuk Sukarti Wakiman last Monday to the state security working committee in Kota Kinabalu.

"Many are coming forward to take advantage of the green card exercise but not everyone will qualify as there are lots of checks to be conducted," said Sukarti.

"We have made it clear that the card is meant only for those with Malaysian birth certificates and identified as stateless. Holders have to renew their green MyKads once every five years unlike before when it had to be done annually."

Malaysian birth certificates issued in Sabah continues to be a grey area. PKR’s main concern is that many of those holding Malaysian birth certificates may have obtained them fraudulently.