Jakarta, IO – Thousands of Indonesian citizens in Malaysia may become stateless because they entered the country illegally, said the Law and Human Rights Ministry (Kemenkumham).
As a result, many Indonesian citizens have been detained for immigration violations in Malaysia. Baroto, director of state administration at Kemenkumham’s General Legal Administration Directorate General (Ditjen AHU) said that citizenship issues in Malaysia have become special concern between the two countries, per CNN Indonesia, Sat (25/11).
“Efforts have been made to resolve this, especially for undocumented Indonesian citizens in Malaysia so that their citizenship status can be clarified. This will allow them to return to Indonesia or return to work in Malaysia legally,” said Baroto.
Baroto explained that as neighbouring countries, Indonesia and Malaysia have witnessed frequent cross-border violations which warrant a joint discussion with all relevant authorities from both sides to come up with more robust regulations.
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“The Indonesian government has adopted the principle of caution in resolving citizenship issues in Malaysia,” said Baroto.
So far, the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has issued 33,742 citizenship status certificates (SKSK) and birth verification letters (SBPK) which hints at the large number of undocumented Indonesian citizens in Malaysia. (un)