THE United Progressive Kinabalu Organization (UPKO) urged Putrajaya to overhaul its regulation in granting citizenship to stateless people following a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal recently.
“Comprehensive settlement of such cases is very important to protect the rights of the individuals affected.
“We cannot leave it to the court’s decision alone. Both the Federal Government and the state government, especially the Sabah in this case, need to take proactive action to resolve such cases.
“If necessary, current laws need to be reviewed and amended to avoid an undue burden on the part of affected individuals in the future,” its president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said, in a statement.
On Jan 19, the Court of Appeal ruled that a stateless man born in Sabah, Wong Kueng Hui is entitled to a Malaysian citizenship, in a majority decision.
Court of Appeal judge Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali stated that the High Court was correct in deciding in 2019 that Wong is entitled under the law to be a Malaysian.
“It is clear when there are errors in law by the authorities, that can be challenged through judicial reviews. And with that, we find the first ground does not have merits to be given consideration,” The Borneo Post reported Ruzima as saying.
Wong was born on Jan 2, 1995 at Hospital Keningau, Sabah. His Malaysian father died when he was just 10 years of age while his Indonesian mother passed away when he was 17.
He has been seeking the Malaysian Government to recognise him as a Malaysian since the age of 12.
Use legal precedent as benchmark
Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin stressed on the need for marriage certificate to be produced for a child to be conferred citizenship.
“Among the conditions is to have a valid marriage certificate and the marriage has to be registered in the country,” Free Malaysia Today reported him as saying.
Touching on the matter, Madius urged the Government, especially the National Registration Department, not to file an appeal against Wong’s case.
Instead, the Tuaran MP added, the Government should use the latest legal decision as an important reference to resolve similar cases which require long-term remedial action.
“UPKO hopes that the Court of Appeal’s verdict will open the door to many more cases that need fair and big-hearted attention from the Government and enact an amicable solution.
“The verdicts from the two tiers of our court are sufficient to grant Wong his citizenship and others who are in a similar problem,” Madius remarked. – Jan 23, 2022.
