Vaccine roll-out data can help detect stateless M’sians, says deputy home minister

KUALA LUMPUR – The Home Ministry welcomes data from the Health Ministry (MoH) or the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) to detect undocumented Malaysians.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed Said (Kuala Krau-BN) said this would aid in registering stateless folk.
 
Speaking during Question Time at Parliament today, Ismail voiced his hope for the government to be able to register undocumented Malaysian citizens and give them the MyKad.
 
“We have taken steps, especially for individuals without identity documents in Sarawak. We have established a special committee on citizenship status at the state level, where it is discussed with the Home Ministry.
 
“We hope this cooperation can continue to ensure that all individuals mentioned by Sibuti so we may give them their MyKad. We have also sent our special officers to rural areas.
 
“We also welcome any ministries that can share their data, whether it is the Health Ministry or Mosti, on any individuals who have received their vaccines.
 
“Channel the information to the Home Ministry so we can take further action,” said the deputy minister in his reply to Lukanisman Awang Sauni (Sibuti-GPS).
 
Earlier, the Lukanisman had questioned whether data obtained from the national vaccination roll-out will be used to detect and process Malaysians without identification documents to give them citizenship.
 
He said there are many natives, such as Orang Asal and Penans in Sabah and Sarawak, who are still without MyKads.
 
Meanwhile, Ismail said he hopes more undocumented Malaysians will come forward to obtain their MyKad while ensuring that the vaccination process remains smooth.
 
In a reply to another supplementary question by Ipoh Barat MP M. Kula Segaran, the Kuala Krau lawmaker said that the Home Ministry has been in touch with many migrants’ countries of origin to work out a way to send them home.

“The Home Ministry has been in touch with their countries of origin and we have agreed to start a process to send them home, where their documentation can be approved. Once they are back in their home country, they can begin a new process to return to our country.
 
“We won’t take such ruthless actions (to arrest them). We have sent many Filipinos and Indonesians home,” said Ismail. – The Vibes, September 15, 2021