Deputy minister: Home Ministry resolves on 306 Sarawak Article 15A citizenship cases, 416 still pending

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — A total of 722 citizenship applications under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution were received in Sarawak from 2024 up to September 2026, Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah replying to queries during Question Time said from the total, 306 cases have reached final decisions, with 225 cases approved and 18 cases rejected,

“Meanwhile, a remaining 416 applications are still being processed. These cases are scheduled to be brought forward for consideration and decision during the State-Level Special Committee on Citizenship Status meeting this year,” he said.

Statelessness remains a long-standing issue in Sarawak, where many remote indigenous communities live in vast, rugged terrains far from National Registration Department (JPN) offices or healthcare facilities.

A significant portion of statelessness cases involve children, such as those born to local indigenous mothers and foreign fathers, adopted children, or children whose parents experienced delays in legalising their marriages.

Civil society groups that handle statelessness have repeatedly highlighted that without timely birth registration, obtaining late birth certificates becomes an uphill bureaucratic battle, cutting individuals off from formal documentation from infancy.

Article 15A provides special discretionary powers for the federal government to register individuals under the age of 18 as citizens under special circumstances.

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吉隆坡，11月2日讯——据国会下议院今日获悉，从2024年到2026年9月，砂拉越共收到722份根据联邦宪法第15A条提出的公民身份申请。

内政部副部长拿督斯里沙姆斯·安努尔·纳萨拉在回答质询时表示，在所有案件中，已有306起案件作出最终决定，其中225起获得批准，18起被驳回。

“与此同时，还有416份申请仍在处理中。这些案件计划在今年的州级公民身份问题特别委员会会议上提交审议和决定，”他说。

在砂拉越，无国籍问题依然是一个长期存在的问题。许多偏远的土著社区居住在广袤崎岖的地形中，远离国民登记局 (JPN) 办公室或医疗设施。

无国籍人士中很大一部分是儿童，例如当地土著母亲和外国父亲所生的儿童、被收养的儿童，或者父母婚姻合法化进程受阻的儿童。

处理无国籍问题的民间社会团体反复强调，如果没有及时的出生登记，迟来的出生证明将变成一场艰苦的官僚斗争，使个人从婴儿时期就无法获得正式文件。

第 15A 条赋予联邦政府在特殊情况下将 18 岁以下个人登记为公民的特殊自由裁量权。

卫生部面临1176名司机（包括救护车司机）的短缺。

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