A NUMBER of stateless and refugee children were among more than 350 respondents who took part in United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Malaysia’s #letterstomypm campaign recently.

In their submissions, they expressed their hopes and concerns and provided solutions regarding such important issues as education, peace, governance and the environment – in conjunction with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s birthday early this month.

Incidentally, to these kids who don’t have access to formal education in Malaysia, the brouhaha over wearing black shoes in school is obviously the least of their concerns.

And recently too, 21-year-old Roisah Abdullah was elated because she was given a scholarship by Tun Abdul Razak University to pursue her dream of becoming an accountant. But the joy was swiftly restrained by her thought of being stateless, without a country to call her own.

Roisah was born to a foreign mother and an absentee Malaysian father – and was later adopted by a Malaysian woman who subsequently failed to get Roisah a citizenship.

The above individuals are the human faces of statelessness. These stateless children and young people, like most of their parents and other adults of similar predicament, do have ambitions and hopes but only to be dashed by the uncertainty that comes along with their statelessness.

For, without legal documentation, they are deprived of education, healthcare, employment, security and other aspects of their human rights.

Given their potential and if provided with ample opportunities, these stateless persons have a lot to contribute to the country where they reside in. And yet, this portion of human talent is not developed.

Many of the world’s stateless individuals are children, and many grow up not knowing the protection and recognition that a nationality offers.

Some children acquire their statelessness from their stateless parents, while others are deprived of their parents’ nationality because of discriminatory laws and policies.

According to Institute of Statelessness and Inclusion, Malaysia is listed as one of the countries in the Asian and Pacific region that have large populations of stateless persons.

That is why Klang MP Charles Santiago recently insisted that statelessness in Malaysia has become a national problem.

In the 668 cases that the DAP lawmaker dealt with since June this year, it was found that the problem cut across all ethnic groups and social classes. Of these cases, 40.7% was Chinese, followed by Indians (31.3%), Malays (7.2%) and others (20.8%).

The statelessness among Indians is generational in nature while the Chinese face problem of adoption that didn’t go through the legal process or marriages involving foreigners.

In the case of the Malays, it is the issue of abandoned Malay children or illegitimate children.

Other cases involve children adopted by Malaysian parents, people who were born or arrived before Malayan independence and women having problems legalising their marriage to Malaysian spouses.

On the eastern front, in particular Sabah, there are thousands of undocumented individuals including school-going children.

In a written reply last year, former home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told Parliament that 15,394 children born in Malaysia were denied citizenship between 2012 and January 2017 even though their fathers were Malaysian.

As intimated above, statelessness directly relates to violation of human rights. For, only a person of nationality is ascribed to human rights that are based on the notions of equality, liberty, dignity and universality.

For stateless children, they would grow up to be outcasts and disenfranchised individuals with attendant social and political problems.

The new Pakatan Harapan government must make a difference by seriously addressing this problem of statelessness in our midst. Putting aside this urgent issue of persons caught in a political limbo would only exacerbate matters in the near future if it is not already worse.

To show its seriousness in tackling this issue, the PH government should emulate the noble initiative of the city of Medan in Indonesia that allows 297 refugee children to enter local public schools.

Indonesia is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and local governments across the country are increasingly recognising the importance of access to education for migrant and refugee children.

Most of the stateless or undocumented children are often victims of circumstances. We have a moral duty to protect and help nurture them.

To deny them their basic rights to education and healthcare, among other things, is to mock whatever that is left of their tattered human dignity. – July 26, 2018.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.