KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry has approved 12,509 applications for identity documents for residents in Sarawak’s rural areas last year.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the figure was out of a total of 13,224 applications collected by the task force since July 2023, with the remaining 715 applications still being processed.
He said it was done through a Special Task Force set up to address the issue of people in the state lacking official documentation.
He said that despite Malaysia being a developing and advanced nation, there were still residents without birth certificates or MyKad, making daily life difficult and limiting access to education and healthcare.
“Officers do not wait in the office; they go to the longhouses, seeking out people without documents.
“If this happens, life becomes hard. It is difficult to go to school, and if someone is sick or has a fever, hospital visits are expensive,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a query from Datuk Ali Biju (PN-Saratok), who asked about the current status of identity document issuance for stateless individuals in rural Sarawak and whether standard operating procedures (SOPs) would be simplified to reflect the state’s geographic realities or remain bound by Putrajaya‘s bureaucracy.
Saifuddin said the application process was no longer constrained by Putrajaya bureaucracy.
Under normal procedures, those without documents would have to bring their children to an office and wait for officials, he said.
“This is different. Under the new procedure, we seek them out. In Sarawak and Sabah, those aware of a birth must register within 40 days.
“In Peninsular Malaysia, it is within 60 days. But because their residences are far away, they often miss the 40-day period.
“The task force collects the data, processes it, and then issues MyKad and birth certificates. That is the end result,” he said.
He said that since the task force was established, nine outreach programmes have been conducted in collaboration with the National Registration Department.
“Through these initiatives alone, we have conducted 1,117 sessions since the programme began.
“In 2023, we held 236 programmes, followed by 224, 204 and 225 programmes in subsequent years, with 404 programmes last year. Just in the third week of January this year, we have already conducted seven sessions.
“This demonstrates our commitment to helping residents in remote areas who lack official documents,” he said.
Saifuddin said the initiative was not only about fulfilling Malaysia’s moral responsibility to integrate these communities into the mainstream, but also about meeting international commitments, particularly under Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“A country must resolve issues affecting people who lack documentation, including citizenship status. Successfully doing so demonstrates that our country complies with the SDG requirements,” he said.
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