KOTA KINABALU: Members of parliament (MPs) from Sabah and Sarawak should prioritise the welfare of the native persons when voting for the amendments of the Federal Constitution regarding citizenship.
Sabah Wanita MCA chief Datuk Dr Pamela Yong was referring to the proposed amendments by the Home Ministry, which could adversely affect indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak who are still stateless or hold MyPR instead of MyKad.
"We urge federal lawmakers from Sabah and Sarawak to voice out, rather than practice elegant silence as these legislative changes will impede the welfare of stateless people in Sabah and Sarawak further.
"These MPs need to remember that they were given the mandate by the 'rakyat' to protect the interests of East Malaysians and thus ought to be concerned and act as a check-and-balance against any government-proposed unfavourable revisions to the Federal Constitution," she said in a statement.
Based on the 2020 Population and Housing Census, she said it revealed that Sabah has a population of 3,398,948. From that, an estimate of more than 810,000 are either undocumented migrants or stateless persons.
Yong also added the National Registration Department's records reveal that there are 23,154 individuals under the age of 21 in Sabah who are stateless with at least one of their parents a Malaysian citizen.
Meanwhile, she said MCA was concerned that the PKR-headed Madani government could even conceive such proposed amendments to the Constitution which will further dilute the rights of and displace the native peoples of East Malaysia.
"MCA urges KDN, particularly its Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution to present the proposed amendments and clarify the finer points with the public, stakeholders and CSOs as soon as possible, and not give the impression that the Ministry is bulldozing the tabling of amendments against the will of the people of Malaysia.
"At this point, we understand that the proposed amendments were presented to Civil Society Organisations during a Ministry engagement and no further discussion or deliberation has taken place to address the concerns raised."