Many Sabah natives with red IC still ‘stateless’

The Star:

Many Sabah natives with red IC still ‘stateless’


Sunday, 24 Dec 2023

At wits’ end: Tabias meeting with Baltazar in Kota Kinabalu about his third application for citizenship.


KOTA KINABALU: Tabias Yarun, a native from Sabah’s interior Tenom district, has applied three times for Malaysian citizenship over the past decade.

Like many of the native Lundayehs in Tenom, he holds a red identity card.

Lundayeh is considered a sub-ethnic under the Murut group. They are spread across southern Sabah, northern Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan in the central Borneo region.

They are considered natives of Sabah but their Malaysian citizenship applications have been rejected despite multiple attempts.

“I want the citizenship so that I have the right to own land, get proper healthcare from government hospitals, as well as to have the right to vote,” he said.

Tabias, 52, who lives in Kampung Sugiang Baru in Tenom, about 200km from here, said many of the Lundayeh folk in Tenom had red IC.

There have been reports about the government’s plan to table amendments to the Federal Constitution on citizenship rules early next year.

Last month, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that there would be engagements with government and Opposition MPs to get their feedback on the proposed amendments.

Groups in Sabah and Sarawak have voiced concerns that the amendments would impact indigenous people who are still stateless.

Tabias said there was no reason given to him when two of his earlier applications for citizenship were rejected.

Now, he is awaiting a response from the National Registration Department on his third application.

His citizenship application is being monitored by the newly-founded Advocates for Non-Discrimination and Access to Knowledge (Anak) led by Anne Baltazar.

“Tabias has every right to citizenship. His red IC makes no mention of his country of origin,” she said.

Baltazar said Tabias’ parents were also red IC holders.

Under the law, she said Tabias should be given a blue IC because both his parents were permanent residents.

Baltazar is concerned that under the eight proposed constitutional amendments on citizenship rights, many indigenous people in Sabah like Tabias would lose their right to citizenship as one of the amendments is to stop granting citizenship to children of red IC holders.

“Tabias and many like him will be affected,” she said adding that the current law provides for granting of citizenship to children of red IC holders.

If the amendment were to be pushed through, Baltazar said people like Tabias would need to apply for citizenship like any other foreigner.

She said Anak was concerned with other amendments that could remove existing protections for “stateless” people to apply for citizenship under the Federal Constitution.

“In Sabah particularly, it could worsen the problem of statelessness,” she said, adding that they hoped the Home Ministry would defer the amendments pending a proper study.