Sarawak NRD plans integrated programmes to address citizenship issues

KUCHING: The Sarawak branch of the National Registration Department (NRD) in collaboration with the State Education Department are planning to implement approximately 50 integrated programmes this year in an ongoing effort to address citizenship issues among people in the state, especially in the remote areas.
Sarawak Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said the areas targeted by their special task force (PPK) were in the interior of Kapit in central Sarawak, and Baram in the northern area.
She said the programme would include visits to schools attended by students who did not have identification documents as it was generally known that the two locations were relatively remote, making it difficult for residents to go to any NRD office for registration purposes.
"Through the PPK's special mobile unit, we will try to provide the best service in assisting to solve the problems related to identification documents," she told reporters after chairing the meeting of the Special Committee on Citizenship here today.
Fatimah said the issue of citizenship was not something that was easy to resolve if the indigenous community still lack awareness about the importance of registration and identification documents.
She further said that unregistered marriages among Sarawakian men and foreign women were also among the factors that triggered problems related to child identification documents.
As of Dec 31, 2017, Sarawak NRD has registered the citizenship of 1,234 residents in Baram and 1,311 more in the interior of Kapit. — Bernama