KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian National Registration Department (NRD) has dismissed social media claims that the presence of alleged Rohingya individuals at its premises indicates they were applying for or receiving Malaysian identity cards, Malay Mail reported.
In a statement issued on August 20, the clarification followed the circulation of a video showing individuals allegedly identified as Rohingya at an NRD office, which was used to support claims that non-citizens were being issued MyKad.
The department said simply being present at an NRD office does not mean an individual is applying for a MyKad, noting that its offices provide various registration and documentation services that may involve non-citizens.
NRD also pointed to a similar incident in June, when a viral video led to confusion between the registration of a non-citizen's birth in Malaysia and the granting of Malaysian citizenship.
It stressed that a pink birth certificate only confirms that a birth has been registered in Malaysia and does not serve as proof of citizenship.
The document is issued regardless of the parents' nationality because Malaysian law requires every birth in the country to be officially recorded.
NRD said the registration of a birth is therefore an administrative requirement and does not automatically grant Malaysian citizenship to the child.
The department added that non-citizens may also legitimately visit its counters for other services, including civil marriages involving a foreign spouse, which have no connection to MyKad applications.
NRD urged the public not to draw conclusions from isolated photographs or videos without knowing the context or nature of the transaction involved.
“Let us together understand an issue based on facts, context and accurate explanations, rather than merely based on perceptions from a photograph or an unclear video recording,” the department said, reiterating its message: “Facts, not perception.”
