MALAYSIA: Immigration Dept Seeks to Deport Malaysia-Born Stateless Mum and Three Kids to Indonesia

MalayMail-July 18

The Immigration Department is seeking to deport a Johor-born mother and her three Selangor-born children — all of whom are officially stateless — to Indonesia, having detained them since July 1. The woman, identified only as D, was born in a government hospital in Johor Baru in 1986, to a couple from Indonesia but permanent residents in Malaysia. This meant D was entitled to Malaysian citizenship under the country’s laws, as she was born in Malaysia to a mother who was a Malaysian PR at the time of her birth. The 36-year-old D and her three children, all aged below 12, are now urgently seeking orders from the High Court to secure their release from what they allege to be unlawful detention — nearly three weeks now — by the Immigration authorities. Based on court documents sighted by Malay Mail, D and her three children had on July 15 filed a habeas corpus application at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur seeking to be freed from Immigration detention; they also asked for a stay order to prevent the government from removing them from Malaysia before the court decides on their challenge against the detention. The four respondents named in the court challenge are the Bukit Jalil immigration depot chief, the Immigration director-general, the home minister, and the Malaysian government.

In seeking for a stay against any deportation, D and her three children explained that they are all stateless persons who were born in Malaysia and have never left the country their entire lives and had reason to believe they would be removed from Malaysia to be sent to Indonesia. Being stateless means they are not a citizen of any country, including Indonesia. They also said their welfare — especially the three young children aged 12, 11 and seven — would be harmed if they were to be removed from Malaysia, and that it would cause their challenge against their unlawful detention to be academic. Read more at: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2022/07/18/immigration-dept-seeks-to-deport-malaysia-born-stateless-mum-and-three-kids-to-indonesia/18129