KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry is looking at improving the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to expediting the process of granting citizenship, according to Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He said it was hoped that once all officers understood the improved SOP the process of granting citizenship would be much smoother.
“We would like to speed up the process of granting citizenship but we are obligated to follow the Constitution and all relevant laws,“ Muhyiddin told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.
He added that anyone who deserves citizenship should be given one and nobody should find ways to deny an individual citizenship.
He said the issue of citizenship has not only been brought up by MPs but also by members of the Cabinet.
According to Muhyiddin, the main problem was that not all cases were similar and that the ministry had to study each case separately before making a decision. He added that the government would not allow ministry officers to make arbitrary decisions over the rights of a person to get citizenship.
“We do not want people to wait too long especially those who are over 60,“ he said, adding that the majority of applicants for citizenship were Indians.
He noted the government had granted citizenship to some 1,600 people in recent months.
