UMNO denies 150,000 Indian children Birth Certs: letter by P.Uthayakumar to Najib & Hishamuddin
Re: 1) Citizenship for 92 out of 32,927. 2) Home Minister to sped up citizenship applications by foreigners @ 4,000 applications a month. 3) But an estimated 150,000 Indian children denied birth certificates. 4) Call to set time limit of 60 days under Home Ministry’s key Performance Index target to
We refer to the above matter.
We congratulate the UMNO controlled Malaysian government in granting citizenship to 92 out of the 32,927 (as January 2009) (The Star 17/09/09 headlines). Similarly the Home Minister announced the speeding up of the applications by foreigners (mostly believed to be Muslims) to become citizens by the end of this year. Datuk Hishamuddin Hussein said yesterday his ministry has formed a committee with representatives from the National Registration Department (NRD) to handle the matter. Hishammudin said the NRD received more than 4,000 applications a month (NST 1/7/09 at page 12).
But why is there a different standard for the local Malaysian born working class Indian children. Why are these foreigners being given more priority than the local born Malaysian working class Indian children. Why is there no such Special Committee for the local born working class Malaysian Indian children. But an estimated 150,000 Indian children are still stateless though they are all local born in Malaysia. This is based on former UMNO Menteri Besar Khir Toyo’s statement immediately before the 8th March 2008 general election that in the state of Selangor alone there are 50,000 stateless Indian children without birth certificates. This UMNO controlled government policy in denying these 150,000 Indian Children their birth certificates is in violation of Article 14 of the Federal Constitution which stipulates citizenship by operation of law. The following persons are citizens by operation of law that is to say:
b) Every person born on or after Malaysia day.
3) Second Schedule, Part II
Citizenship by operation of law, that is to say:
a) Every person born within the Federation of whose parents one at least is at the time of the birth either a citizen or permanently resident in the Federation.
Why should these poor and innocent working class Indian children be made to suffer because of the implementation of racist and religious extremist policies by UMNO.
The Star on 15/09/09 at page N20 reported an Indian girl (whose parents were themselves denied birth certificates) who was earlier even told to leave school and that she could not sit for her SPM exams. Maybe after much begging and the media exceptionally carrying this news and at the sole and absolute mercy of the UMNO Education Ministry officers, this Indian girl was “a special case and would be allowed to sit for the SPM”. This case is just the tip of the iceberg. What about the thousands of other such Indian children whose case has not been reported by the media. These children are disallowed from even attending Primary school by UMNO to the point of even sending a circular to all the Tamil Schools that from 2008 onwards they are not to admit Indian children without birth certificates into Tamil schools. Before this Tamil school headmasters exercised their discretion and take in these Indian children. But they are in any event excluded from Secondary Schools anyway. We have been informed that even the Myanmar Rohingy Muslim refugee children and the South Thailand Muslim children in detention camps are allowed into full time schools.
How cruel could UMNO be. Further these children cannot enter Secondary schools, Institutions of Higher Education and Universities, cannot get government scholarships and loans, cannot get proper jobs, cannot open a Bank account cannot buy a motorcycle, car, lorry, van (to earn a living) or getting a driving license in the first place. They all live in fear and many have been detained by the Police, Rela and the Immigration Department officers. Recently one young pregnant Indian lady even had given birth at the Immigration Depoh in Semenyih.
Almost all other Malaysians ie the Malays, Chinese, Orang Asli, Kadazan and Iban hardly face these problems. Why then only the Indians face these problems and to this extent? In fact for the Orang Asli, Kadazan and the Iban community mobile units from the NRD are sent to even the most remote areas accessible only by footpath to register their births. But a similar facility is not offered to even such urban Indian working class squatter families. The last straw is they even cannot legally get married. Then they have children who in turn are denied birth certificate and the cycle goes on to the third, fourth and fifth generations of Malaysian Indians. Why is this happening even after 52 years of Independence from the British colonial masters and now the UMNO masters? These atrocities does not happen in any other part of the world expect in Prime Minister Najib’s Razak’s One Malaysia.
May we bring to your goodselves kind attention that the above is again also in violation of Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which provides for equality before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.
In the circumstances kindly issue birth certificates and Identity cards especially to all these working class Indian children as part of the Prime Minister’s and Home Ministry’s Key Performance Index target to achieve 0% Indian children without birth certificates within a 60 days time frame.
Thank you.
Your faithfully,
P.Uthayakumar
Secretary General (pro-tem)
Human Rights Party.
