Deputy minister: Home Ministry resolves 306 Sarawak Article 15A citizenship cases since 2024, 416 still pending

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah during the committee-stage debate on the Supply Bill at Parliament in Kuala Lumpur on November 2, 2026. — Bernama pic

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid

First Published: Monday, 02 Nov 2026 12:03 PM MYT

Last Modified: Monday, 02 Nov 2026 12:06 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — A total of 722 citizenship applications under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution were received in Sarawak from 2024 up to September 2026, Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah replying to queries during Question Time said from the total, 306 cases have reached final decisions, with 225 cases approved and 18 cases rejected. 

“Meanwhile, a remaining 416 applications are still being processed. These cases are scheduled to be brought forward for consideration and decision during the State-Level Special Committee on Citizenship Status meeting this year,” he said.

Statelessness remains a long-standing issue in Sarawak, where many remote indigenous communities live in vast, rugged terrains far from National Registration Department (JPN) offices or healthcare facilities.

A significant portion of statelessness cases involve children, such as those born to local indigenous mothers and foreign fathers, adopted children, or children whose parents experienced delays in legalising their marriages.

Civil society groups that handle statelessness have repeatedly highlighted that without timely birth registration, obtaining late birth certificates becomes an uphill bureaucratic battle, cutting individuals off from formal documentation from infancy.

Article 15A provides special discretionary powers for the federal government to register individuals under the age of 18 as citizens under special circumstances.