TAWAU: The Home Ministry should conduct a thorough investigation with a view to finding a solution to the problem of undocumented children who may now number over half a million in Sabah, according to Tawau Member of Parliament Lo Su Fui.
He asserted that the government must take action because the problem had existed since independence.
“Most of these children are the victims of unfortunate circumstances such as having local parents who neglect to register their children’s births because they assume a birth certificate is not necessary.
“There are many undocumented cases that are the result of late birth registration, so not all undocumented children are the offspring of illegal immigrants,” he said, after officiating the Grace Training Centre Charity Dinner at Dewan Calvary, here, Saturday.
He said he brought up the matter thrice in parliament and hoped Minister of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, would find a resolution.
“We should not politicise this matter... For me, a child can obtain a Malaysian identity card if at least one parent is a citizen of the country.
“If not an identity card, at least give them special passes so that they have the opportunity to education and employment because they cannot go anywhere without personal documents,” he said.
Lo said these children can only learn life lessons, values, and discipline through educational opportunities, which would also lessen the impact of crime on society.
He considers undocumented children to be part of the community here, particularly those born and raised in Tawau, and he holds everyone accountable for providing these children with educational opportunities.
“While the government is looking for the best solution to the issue, I hope these children can get the education opportunity because the majority were born and raised in Tawau and are unable to go back to Indonesia or the Philippines,” he said.
On the ceremony at hand, Lo expressed how proud he was with the Centre’s efforts as the only registered school in Malaysia that accepts undocumented children.
The Charity Dinner raised RM1.5 million to finance the purchase of three blocks of shops in addition to the existing school block in Pekan Kinabutan, Batu 5 ½ Jalan Apas.
Grace Training Centre was established in 2010 and is an initiative of the Calvary Love Foundation.
