KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — The Malaysian government has filed an appeal against the High Court’s declaration of three stateless siblings — who were born in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur to a Malaysian father — as Malaysians.
The three siblings’ lawyer Larissa Ann Louis told Malay Mail today that the Attorney General’s Chambers filed the appeal on August 5 at the Court of Appeal.
This means that the three siblings will have to continue their years-long struggle to get the Malaysian government to officially recognise them as Malaysians, as they will now have to wait for the outcome of the government’s appeal at the Court of Appeal.
They have been waiting for 13 years to be called Malaysians. They are stateless as they are not citizens of any country in the world.
The three siblings had previously tried five times — except for the eldest child who ran into an age limit — to apply to be recognised as Malaysians. The first time they tried applying was when they were aged 13, eight and six.
This year, they will be turning 26, 21 and 19, and still waiting to be Malaysians officially.
On August 24, 2022, the three siblings had filed a lawsuit in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur against the national registration director-general, the Home Ministry secretary-general and the Malaysian government, seeking six court orders.
On July 10, 2023, High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh granted four court orders sought by the three siblings, including a declaration that they are Malaysian citizens.
The High Court judge also ordered the government to issue birth certificates and identification cards (MyKad) stating the trio as Malaysian citizens within 30 days from the court order, and ordered the national registration director-general to register and update the three siblings’ names in the registry.
At that time, the three siblings told Malay Mail of their happiness with the court’s decision, saying: “We can finally experience the things we never got to do and have the opportunity to contribute back to the nation we love.”
Their names have been withheld to protect their privacy, with the three siblings known as K1, K2 and K3.
Read here for more on the three siblings and why they were denied Malaysian citizenship despite being born in Malaysia to a Malaysian father.
