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SARAWAK PKR has offered the manpower and logistical resources of its to help locate stateless Sarawak folk in remote areas who lack proper identification documents.
State PKR chairman Roland Engan said 31 PKR branches are willing to assist the joint committee formed by the Home Ministry and Sarawak government in registering stateless individuals.
"So far, more than 13,000 stateless Sarawakians have applied for birth certificates and identity cards.
"We believe that figure is just a portion of the real number of Sarawakians without birth certificates or MyKads.
"We have already asked our 31 branch leaders to prepare their resources to support the joint committee if needed.
"This is one of the very important ways we can offer our service to help find the stateless people," he said.
Engan, who is a lawyer based in Miri, is a native of the remote Baram district.
He said there are many logistical challenges in finding the stateless.
"Many of them could be in places where there are no proper roads and telecommunication facilities," he said.
It was reported that the Federal Government-Sarawak government joint committee established last year to solve cases of stateless Sarawakians will double their efforts to find as many stateless rural people as possible in the deep interiors of Sarawak.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he had met with Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg in Kuching regarding the matter.
Saifuddin said the state government had also compiled data on the locations where many people still lack vital personal documents.
The special joint committee set up a mobile registration unit in Miri last November, where hundreds of stateless people attended. Many even slept on the streets, waiting to be served.
There are as many as 6,000 rural longhouses and remote, scattered villages throughout Sarawak. – August 23, 2024.