THE government has no problem giving citizenship to applicants if they can produce valid documents, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said today.

The home minister said citizenship can only be granted in accordance with existing laws.

“Among the conditions set is to have a valid marriage certificate (for a spouse) and the marriage has to be registered in the country,” he told a press conference in Larut, Perak, today.

Hamzah was commenting on the citizenship status of Rohana Abdullah, who was abandoned as a two-month-old baby at a kindergarten 22 years ago, after her mother returned to Indonesia.

The girl was reportedly forced to drop out of school because she did not have identification documents.

He said everyone must abide by the rules and conditions set in obtaining citizenship status, such as registering marriage, before problems arise involving children at a later date.

“I have said numerous times that, even if there is a marriage certificate, if it is not registered in the country, there will be problems for the children, in that they will be categorised as a child conceived out of wedlock or a child without status,” he said. – Bernama, January 22, 2022.