Arakan News Agency
The Home Ministry will investigate the sale of identity cards by a non-governmental organization to Refugees, including those who enter the country illegally.
“This (sale of identity cards) is being done without authorized consent or permission,” Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said.
“It is illegal for identity documents of any kind to be issued without the express permission of the government.
“Those who sell the cards as well as those who bought them were guilty of issuing or being in possession of false documents. We consider these people to be engaged in criminal activities.
“We are looking into the matter and will take appropriate action. We have not received any request to issue cards from the organization in question.”
Nur Jazlan said even if the organization had applied for permission and had yet to be granted approval, it was a serious offence to begin distributing such identification cards on their own accord.
“This is not a joke … there are procedures to follow. Identity cards need to be approved, vetted and serialized to ensure they carry authentic information. Anything less is outright fraud,” he said.
Nur Jazlan said this when asked to comment on Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia (Merhom), which has been issuing identification cards to Refugess, claiming it was to prevent abuse.
The NGO had issued some 100 cards in an effort to provide the ethnic minority with documentation.
Nur Jazlan said if the NGO was conducting vetting of applicants without oversight by the government, it had no value and said the group had no right to issue identity cards.
“Stateless people have no rights in this country… much less to issue identity cards on their own and expect the government to respect it,” he said.
The NGO claimed its community was being harassed by enforcement authorities due to a lack of identification documents and this was why they issued cards on their own accord.
“These are stateless people who reside in the country illegally. I do not blame the enforcement authorities for doing their job,” Nur Jazlan said.
The government was urged to act swiftly against the NGO as it seemed to be arm-twisting authorities into recognizing and absorbing ethnic Rohingya Refugees.
