The Real Threat To Our Nation Isn T Stateless Children It S The Betrayal Of Trust

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WHEN news broke of five high-ranking army officers being arrested for smuggling and drug-related offences, Malaysians were shocked.
The very individuals sworn to protect our borders allegedly leaked intelligence and facilitated syndicates that raked in millions from contraband and narcotics.
This betrayal cuts deep. Soldiers are entrusted with the nation’s security, yet some allegedly chose wealth over duty. It shows us that the greatest threats to our safety often come from within, when trust is broken by those in power.
Now contrast this with stateless children in Malaysia. Born here, raised here, but denied recognition and rights. Time and again, I have sat in focus group discussions where stateless children were framed as potential national security threats.

In one session, a representative from the National Security Council said plainly: Allowing these children access to education could compromise the nation.
But from over a decade of experience working with these children, I can tell you the reality: they are not threats. They are children.
Their stories are filled with hardship paying middlemen to cross borders, growing up without papers and being shut out of classrooms. They are treated with suspicion when all they want is a chance to belong.
The irony is hard to ignore. Educated officers entrusted with safeguarding the nation have allegedly betrayed that trust. Stateless children who have done no wrong are denied their basic right to education because of a fear that they might one day become threats.
Here is the truth: denying rights doesn’t prevent threats, it creates them. By excluding children, we rob them of dignity and opportunity. By giving them education, we offer them hope, belonging and a pathway to contribute.
Malaysia ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 30 years ago. Yet, we still hold reservations against key provisions, including:
Article 2 (non-discrimination),Article 7 (right to a name and nationality),Article 14 (freedom of thought, conscience, and religion),Article 28(1)(a) (free and compulsory primary education), andArticle 37 (protection from torture and arbitrary detention).We have also not acceded to the Optional Protocol that allows children to seek justice for rights violations. This means that children most in need especially stateless and undocumented ones remain excluded.
It is time we reframe what security really means. True security is not achieved by excluding children from schools; it is built when every child grows up with dignity, belonging and the chance to learn.
The arrest of these officers reminds us that threats to the nation do not come from children seeking education. They come from betrayal, corruption and systemic neglect. If we continue to marginalize stateless children, we risk creating the very insecurity we fear.
Malaysia has the chance to choose differently. Let us remove our reservations to the UNCRC, guarantee every child the right to education and see education for what it truly is: not a risk, but our greatest safeguard.
Because the strength of a nation lies not in exclusion and fear, but in its courage to protect its children. All of them! 
Siti Rahayu Baharin, more fondly known as Cikgu Rahayu, is an advocacy officer for Yayasan Chow Kit.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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