World Street Children News :: Malaysia Streetkid News

Daily Express, Sabah, Malaysia — News Headlines: "Status, skills for street kids

Kuala Lumpur: The Government may look into the possibility of providing specific identification status and skills training, among others, to the ’stateless’ children in Sabah.

These are among several proposals to be worked out with the Sabah Government towards resolving the growing problem of foreign street children as a strategy to combat potential social threats in the future.

Responding to Shim Paw Fatt (BN-Tawau) in Parliament, on Tuesday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the Government would also have to study the sources of the problems affecting the children.

Other than providing some form of identification, the Government would consider providing them with education and specific training to enable them cope up with manpower demand in the country, he said.

Nazri said another consideration would be to provide them with special shelters to ensure that they are not exploited by unscrupulous people.

He acknowledged that the presence of Filipino street children left behind by illegal immigrant parents to fend for themselves would cause major repercussions in society.

The Government had already initiated moves to round them up and place them in detention centres until their fate could be decided.

According to him, integrated operations involving various related agencies mounted since October, last year, had so far rounded up 532 street children, of whom 129 have been remanded in holding centres in Menggatal, Sandakan and Tawau, pending further action.

The State Welfare Services Department had also initiated indepth studies on the actual number of stateless children in the State.

To another question by Shim, the Minister said that the State Government initially issued IMM13 documents to 61,314 Filipino refugees seeking sanctuary from the civil unrest in their country.

Since they had been staying in Sabah for more than 30 years, the Government had, on Aug 27, 2002, decided to accord permanent residence status to 20,009, since they had shown no indication of returning to their country of origin, he said.

Shim said the continued unsolved problems relating to illegals have been haunting Sabahans, to an extent they could not sleep in peace for fear of security threat to the nation’s sovereignty, socio-economic and political lives of Sabahans.

He also claimed that the stateless children were the product of illegal immigrants holding forged IMM13 cards.

"The recent riot and breakout by inmates of a detention centre in Menggatal pending deportation shows the security threat we are now facing," he said.

Shim also questioned the unusual growth in population explosion in Sabah between 1980s and 1990s, which he said was four times the national growth.

"It is a common knowledge that this unusual growth is principally contributed by illegals holding forged identity cards and IMM13 documents, as well as genuine identity cards issued by the National Registration Department, basing on dubious supporting documents," he said.

He pointed out that local sentiments were high on persons of dubious background, citing it as among reasons residents of Kampung Maang in Penampang opposed the relocation of the Sri Tanjung squatters, to make way for the multi-million ringgit expansion project of the Kota Kinabalu airport.

"They are suspicious of the background of some of the so-called locals to be relocated," he said.

He regretted that repeated issues of these problems were raised at all levels, including Parliament, over the years, "but no one has bothered to listen to the people’s plight".

He praised Sarawak for having been spared the problem. "Similar issues were never raised in Parliament by MPs from the state and they could concentrate of development without distraction."

Daily Express, Sabah, Malaysia — News Headlines: "Than suggests DNA tests on street kids woe

Kota Kinabalu: State Science & Technology Advisor Datuk Tham Nyip Shen has proposed DNA test as a solution to resolving the ’stateless children’ issue plaguing the State.

He said DNA tests could determine the true identity of these children, whether they are of Filipino or Indonesian origin, as well as preventing the recurrence of Malaysian children detained by the authority being deported to another country, as in the infamous ‘Angelica’ case, a few years back.

This could also better facilitate tracing the parents of these children eventually, hence eliminating the chances of the governments of their countries of origin denying responsibility to their own citizens when deporting them.

Tham proposed this when asked to comment on the issue.

‘But, to achieve this, our government will have to first establish a national DNA database to collect the DNA samples of our own citizens, followed by taking concrete measures to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants into the country Sabah in particular,’ he said.

Tham, a former Deputy Chief Minister, added that such effort has to be carried out without further delay, before the matter becomes more complicated and gets out of control, especially when these children grow old enough to have their own children.

"This will inevitably contribute to an increase in their number in the State. Worse still, if they somehow have children with locals which, I believe, is not something unusual in Sabah," he said.

He said currently some leading universities in the country are equipped with the necessary facilities and expertise to conduct DNA tests.

Besides, he said, the availability of a comprehensive DNA database would be useful in fighting crimes.

Joint effort to solve plight of street children
April 1, 2006
By Arman Gunsika
KOTA KINABALU - The Malaysian and the Philippines governments will find a concrete and effective solution to the problem of street children being detained in Sabah. Both countries had agreed to hold a technical meeting on the matter soon.

This was disclosed by Philippine Embassy Consul-General in Malaysia, Antonio Morales after visiting the Menggatal Temporary Detention Centre, near here.

He said one of the major issues to be discussed was the plight of undocumented children detained in Sabah.

Antonio said his embassy stopped issuing travel documents to those below 17 a few months ago because most of them did not know where to find their parents once they were sent back to Zamboanga, Philippines.

He said this is the main problem now and it is not the authority who refuses to provide travel documents. Some of these young detainees do not even know how to speak any Philippine dialect which posed a dilemma to the embassy officials.

He said a few hundreds of such children are now being housed at the temporary centre in Zamboanga and welfare officials are having difficulties locating their parents or relatives.

Antonio said these children were victims of circumstances in that either they were abandoned by their parents or they are half Malaysian/Filipino or their parents were detained and deported to the Philippines while they were still small and left behind with their relatives.

"So, when they grew up in Sabah, they ended up becoming street children and supported themselves selling all kinds merchandise and when they got caught they didn’t know even the names of their parents," he said.

He stressed that like Malaysia, the Philippines government considered the issue a serious one because the future of the children is important as stated by Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad.

Antonio also said although the Malaysian authorities are trying their best to make the accommodation at the detention centre suitable for them it is definitely not the best place in the long term.

He said these children must be separated from other detainees and teach them some skills or even kind of education as being proposed by Indonesian authorities.

Embassy: Deporting won’t solve the problem

Kota Kinabalu: The Malaysian and Philippine governments will find a "concrete and creative" solution to the problem of street children being detained in Sabah.

Philippine Embassy Consul-General in Malaysia, Antonio Morales, said both countries had agreed to hold a technical meeting this month but it has been deferred on the request of Malaysian officials.

One of the major issues to be discussed was the plight of undocumented children detained in Sabah, Morales told Daily Express after meeting with several Filipinos detained at the Menggatal Temporary Detention Centre.

Morales managed to interview several detained street children to find out which province they were from and particulars of their parents or relatives back in the Philippines.

According to Morales, his embassy stopped issuing travel documents to those below 17 a few months ago because most of them did not know where to find their parents once sent back to Zamboanga, Philippines.

"This is our main problem now and it’s not that we don’t or refuse to provide travel documents. Some don’t even know how to speak any Philippine dialect so how are we to say they are Philippine nationals?" Morales asked.

He said a few hundred such children are now being housed at a temporary centre in Zamboanga and welfare officials are having difficulties locating their relatives.

He said these children were victims of circumstances in that either they were abandoned by their parents, or they are half Malaysian/Filipino or their parents were detained and deported to the Philippines while they were still small and left behind with their relatives.

"So when they grew up in Sabah they ended up becoming street children to support themselves selling all kinds merchandise. When they got caught they didn’t know even the names of their parents," said Morales.

He stressed that like Malaysia, the Philippine Government considered the issue a serious one because the future of the children is important as stated by Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad.

He pointed out although the Malaysian authorities are trying their best to make the accommodation at the detention centre suitable for them it is definitely not the best place in the long term.

Morales hoped Sabah welfare authorities would separate these children from other detainees and teach them some skills or even some kind of education as is being proposed by the Indonesian authorities.

"We cannot solve their problem by just deporting them to the Philippines. There must be some humanitarian consideration accorded to these children while their fate is being considered by both governments."

On the issuance of travel documents to Filipinos detained at the Temporary Detention Centres in the State, Morales said: "We do it within two days at our office in Kuala Lumpur but some delays may occur in the post."

He said once Filipinos are detained, the Immigration Department would send to his office their particulars to facilitate the issuance of travel documents.

However delays may also occur when details provided by the immigration are not complete.

Distribute street kids among all States to be fair: Cash

Kota Kinabalu: The Consumer Association for Sabah and Labuan (Cash) Tuesday proposed that the 65 Filipino street children currently placed at three immigration depots in Sabah be distributed among the various states, so as to be fair to Sabah.

Its President, Datuk Patrick Sindu said the street children should be equally divided and sent to states such as Selangor, Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Johor and Penang, among others.

"The people said since the matter is a Federal Government problem, other states should also share the burden and not just Sabah alone," he said.

He said only by sending these children to the various states, would the Government be able to embrace the matter as a national issue.

"Otherwise, if the children continue to remain at the immigration centres without solution forthcoming from the Federal Government and the seemingly disinterested Philippine Government, the problem will never be solved."

He criticised the Philippine authorities "who for some ulterior motive does not seem interested in wanting any of their nationals back by giving all sorts of excuses when a simple conversation with any of these detainees would confirm through accent whether they are really Filipinos."

The Philippine Government refused to issue travel documents to those below 17, unless accompanied by parents. It also practices a policy whereby even Filipino adults seeking to obtain documents to return home would have to state and get attestations from their Malaysian sponsors or contacts in Sabah.

Patrick said the people of Sabah do not want to be seen as uncaring to these street children when they are supposed to be studying in school.

"Most people we spoke to sympathised with the children who have been abandoned by their parents," he said.

However, he said Sabah should not be left to tend to the problem because it involves nationality issues that requires the Federal Government’s intervention.

He said while basic education is important, the United Nations (UN) should provide the funds to educate the street children and offspring of the IMM13 holders.

"After all, it was the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) which had requested that these displaced people be given sanctuary in Sabah.

"We cannot tackle this problem because we simply do not have the funds," he said.

Patrick said the children are not animals and should not be put behind "cages". In the United States, he said, the Government would normally give them counselling and eventually draft them into the army and have them sent to war. "If they come back alive they will be given automatic citizenship."

"What I am afraid is that these children would be exploited by the Philippines," he said.

"After all, the Philippine Government has shown that it does not intend to give up its Sabah claim."

Only if 500 street kids or more
24 April, 2005

Kota Kinabalu: There has been no word yet from the Federal Government on how soon it will implement plans to solve the problem of Sabah’s street children, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin.

Yahya, however, opined that the Federal plan to set up an institute would be feasible only if the number of street children reaches a large enough figure.

"I feel that if the number reaches 500 or 1,000 then maybe it is worthwhile to have an institute. But if it is only 100 or 200 and especially if their parents are here, maybe we don’t need it (institute).

"Sometimes things get blown out of proportion. Early reports said there were 15,000 roaming in Kota Kinabalu and 15,000 in Sandakan but when we go out on operations we catch maybe five or six, at the most 30. This is still manageable."

Yahya, who chairs the State-level committee on street children, said he was "made to understand" that the Federal-level committee has made its decision but has yet to receive official notification on the matter.

"The action has been decided, it’s just not decided when (it will be implemented). It is still in the very early stages," he told a press conference Saturday after officiating the Workshop on the Right Usage of Cosmetic Goods and Food Supplements for Health.

"We are still waiting for further instructions. I was notified (of the federal decision) by an officer (on the State committee).

"At the State level we had discussions on ways to tackle the problem and we decided on operations to rope in the street children in the city and other districts.

"The problem now is what to do with them. The Federal side has had a meeting and the decision made was as I have explained during the Assembly sitting," he said.

Media reports on Thursday quoted Yahya, who is also Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister, as saying in his winding up speech that the federal committee had decided on providing job or education opportunities for street children.

The Federal plan would absorb those at the legal working age as workers in plantations or other suitable sectors while minors would be sent to an institution, to be set up by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, with integrated facilities for education and vocational training.

"The Federal Government will fund the institution. Those below the working age should be given the chance to educate themselves rather than we just discuss the matter. That way they can become useful people.

"They will continue growingÉthey won’t put their growth on hold while we carry on discussing what we should do. At the end of the day, they will grow as they are and we would still have no decision.

"We are talking about refugees, those with IMM13 documents and they are recognised under the United Nations Charter, by our government and the world.

"We are taking into account certain considerations as humans. But if they are illegals of course we will send them backÉwe have been doing that off and on through operations," he said.

He said they have yet to come across children who were abandoned due to the ‘Ops Nyah’ deportation exercise, adding that there are an estimated 300 street children with refugee status throughout the State so far.

"But we don’t have precise figures. The children that we found had parents with valid documents so we just sent them home. We also gave them (parents) a warning not to leave their children running around.

"I have ordered the DOs (district officers) to continue with the operations off and on, depending on the development (of the street children issue) in their areas."

Meanwhile, Yahya declined to comment on a statement by Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Supreme Council member Dr Chong Eng Leong who called on the State Government to disallow stateless children from staying in Sabah.

Chong claimed that over 10,000 children remain here despite the government’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants, charging that Sabahans’ sovereignty would be at stake should they be able to obtain citizenship at some point.

"That is their opinion. They (federal government) are not talking about Sabah only this thing is happening all over Malaysia. I am just doing my job," he said.

Training, schooling and jobs
21 April, 2005

Kota Kinabalu: The State Legislative Assembly was told Wednesday that a Federal Cabinet management committee has decided to provide training, education and jobs for street children (mainly those whose parents have documents), as well as those without or stateless.

Deputy Chief Minister cum Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister, Datuk Yahya Hussin, who chairs the State committee to tackle the street children problem, said the committee had been informed about the decisions by the Federal committee.

In his winding up speech he responded to the question posed by several assemblymen on the problem of street children as well as people with mental health problems roaming the streets in the State.

Among the decisions of the Federal Government, Yahya said was to absorb all street children to work in plantations or other suitable sectors, while the minors would have their details recorded for planning purposes to enable them to go for education.

Also decided was the setting up of a House or a welfare institution by the Federal Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, which is tasked with providing integrated facilities for education and vocational training to street children.

A training centre would be set up by the Federal Entrepreneur Development and Co-operative Ministry to train street children so that they can be absorbed into entrepreneurial centres under the Ministry.

Yahya said the State committee had conducted operations to nab street children found roaming selling plastic bags, shining shoes, selling Four-Digit results and begging from the public including tourists.

Based on these operations most of the children were found to be foreigners and were returned to their parents or guardians after having their particulars recorded.

Warnings were also issued to the children’s parents or guardians who are Filipinos holding the IMM13.

"Since the parents or guardians are holding the IMM13 documents (refugees) the children are deemed to be stateless," he said.

On the diesel issue, he said the government had never issued a ration order on diesel to kiosk operators in Sabah.

"If there were rationings then it was enforced by the kiosk operators themselves and not the Government," he said, adding that the Government only imposed a maximum quota for buying diesel at 250 litre per purchase at one time.

If the buyers had used up the 250 litre quota, they are still allowed to fill the maximum quota if they are doing so for another vehicle on the same day, he said, adding the imposition of the maximum quota was to curb the selling of subsidised diesel to industrial users as well as smuggling activities.

He stressed that the Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs Ministry’s enforcement officers were monitoring kiosks three times a day, while surveillance was also conducted in all areas to monitor the price of goods, which could be raised due to the diesel price hike.

Up to March this year, he said about 49,245 premises were checked and that 290 cases of infringement were detected in Sabah.