KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian mothers' plea for the government to grant citizenship papers for their children born overseas continue to ring loud.
#ManaDokumenKami and #sayaJugaAnakMalaysia have resurfaced on Twitter amid these mothers' persistent struggle to obtain citizenship status for their children.
Rachel, a mother, posted on Twitter: "All the mums have been trying for years. But we were never taken seriously. Now is our best chance to end this once and for all. But that means dragging our kids to the front line to fight with us. We're tired. When will this stop?"
In a photo she shared, Rachel's son was seen holding a placard, which read: "109 hari sejak permohonan di JPN Putrajaya. #ManaDokumenKami?" (It has been 109 days since we filed an application at the National Registration Department, Putrajaya. Where is our (citizenship) document?"
"The moment we arrived at JPN yesterday, my son's mood immediately switched from normal to downcast because he remembers this is the place we spent countless of hours trying to make him a Malaysian. He is traumatised. As a mother I am ridden with guilt. But what choice do I have?
"I try to shield my child from the equal citizenship rights advocacy as much as I can. But many people including our own government don't seem to realise that these children are real and are suffering. The government acts like as if these kids don't exist (or worse, them being national threats).
"There are many, many more mothers and children in the same situation, going through all sorts of struggles, voices cannot be heard," she wrote on Twitter.
A Malaysian mother from Johor, Esther on Twitter shared: "After countless of trips to the JPN, we are both very tired and disappointed. Two weeks ago, I was told by them, my documents were accepted due to the court order but they have not processed it."
"No one knows when they're going to start processing it. On today's (June 10) trip, I was told to return after six months. Will I get my documents by that time? No one knows. #ManaDokumenKami.
"Stop treating Malaysian mothers as second class citizens and give us our document now! #ManaDokumenKami #SayaJugaAnakMalaysia," she tweeted.
Esther further wrote that while mothers might be able to tolerate discrimination, they could not bear the thought of seeing their children being discriminated.
"We want them to have equal rights in their motherland," she wrote.
Also on Twitter, another user posted: "#ManaDokumenKami isn't a slogan but the real cry from all impacted Malaysian mothers who are struggling and waiting for the citizenship. What else more the impacted mothers have to do?"
Read more about the plight of stateless children in Malaysia:
Stateless kids left in limbo - https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/06/803121/stateless-kids-left-limbo
Special provision may enable undocumented children to attend national schools - https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/06/803127/special-provision-may-...