Unfair Sabahans Question Footballers Fast Tracked Citizenship

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Sabahans who are still struggling to obtain citizenship could not help but highlight the “unfairness” and “double standards” in the recent controversy involving several heritage football players.
Fandi Nukizan, 22, who prefers to be known as Ijan, said it was unfair that the foreigners managed to get citizenship so easily, but those born and had lived all their lives in Malaysia are still struggling to get the document.
“To me, it seems unfair to witness these foreign players attain citizenship so easily, despite the fact that their heritage and relationship to Malaysia still remain unclear.
Fandi Nukizan, 22, also known as Ijan“The home minister said they are willing to trace the Malaysian heritage of these players, but what about those of us who can trace our heritage to this country for several generations, yet still refuse to be recognised by the government?” he asked when contacted by Malaysiakini.
Ijan is a stateless youth from the Bajau Laut community in Semporna, Sabah. His parents are also stateless.
He mentioned how his family had been applying for citizenship for over a decade, only to be met with bureaucratic hurdles and constant rejections.
Bajau Laut homes in SabahOn Sept 26, the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) sanctioned the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven players for breaches of Article 22 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code (FDC) on forgery and falsification.
“FAM had submitted eligibility enquiries to Fifa, and in doing so, it used doctored documentation to be able to field the above players,” said the global football body’s disciplinary committee.
Fifa also determined that FAM must pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (RM1.9 million), while each of the seven players was also slapped with a 2,000 Swiss francs (RM10,500) fine.
The players - Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano - were also hit with a 12-month suspension from all football-related activities, effective immediately.
The seven suspended Malaysian football playersIn response, FAM acting president Yusoff Mahadi said his organisation will appeal against the decision, while Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail stressed that the footballers had received their citizenship after a thorough vetting process.
The plight of Ijan and his family is not unique, as generational statelessness remains a prevalent issue in Sabah, especially among the nomadic Bajau Laut community.
No real figures
While authorities do not have accurate figures on the number of stateless individuals throughout the country, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than 10,000 stateless people are in Peninsular Malaysia.
Yap Xiang, an activist from Borneo Komrad, mentioned that several studies have estimated that the number of stateless individuals in Malaysia amounts to almost a million.
While the issue is most prevalent in Sabah, he reminded that statelessness in Peninsular Malaysia is also disproportionately high within rural and isolated areas, especially among the Orang Asli community and older-generation Indians living in remote estates.
According to Yap, the stringent documentation requirements and lack of clarity surrounding the government’s policies for citizenship applications only exacerbate the problems faced by stateless individuals.
“This is especially when applicants were born in remote areas without birth certificates from local hospitals.
“The application process would require various documents, such as a letter from the midwife who delivered the baby, testimonies from at least four eyewitnesses, approval from the village leaders, and so forth, just to prove their birth in Malaysia.
“But without such documentation, many cannot even begin the first step of the application process. In many cases, these documents would sometimes still be insufficient,” he said.
Borneo Komrad activist Yap XiangYap also expressed scepticism over Saifuddin’s claims that the footballers had been awarded Malaysian citizenship after being vetted thoroughly.
The activist pointed out that even in approved cases, the applicant usually would have gone through years of bureaucratic hurdles.
“But if the government can open doors for football players by offering citizenship based on mere hearsay, without being transparent about their documents, can they also be more lenient with generations of stateless people who were born and raised here their whole lives?” he asked.
Fifa scandal ‘nothing new’
Wong Ku Kui, 29, a former stateless Sabahan who is now coordinator for youth group Mandiri, highlighted how the issue concerning citizenship of foreign-born footballers had been prevalent for a long time.
“This is not a new issue at all. In fact, I do not even have to mention FAM or Fifa at the moment, because similar cases have been highlighted before of foreign-born football players being awarded Malaysian citizenship easily.
“During the first Pakatan Harapan government several years ago, they also highlighted this issue several times… Yet now, Harapan is continuing to uphold the same archaic and oppressive systems that they have previously criticised,” he said.
Mandiri coordinator Wong Ku KuiWong, originally from Keningau, obtained his Malaysian citizenship in 2023 after a 16-year ordeal, which included a five-year appeal process through the courts.
“So why does the bureaucratic process have to be so tedious and time-consuming for people like us, when foreigners with supposedly ‘more economic worth’ are able to obtain citizenship within only a few short months, without much hassle?” he questioned.
Human value, not economic
Further, Wong refuted the idea that foreign football players were justified in being awarded Malaysian citizenship for their “significant economic contributions”.
“If that is the case, then perhaps the government should instead organise football auditions for the thousands of stateless people in Sabah. That way, it could make their citizenship application process so much easier.
“If you want to argue from the perspective of economic contribution, then by that logic, Malaysia is actually losing almost RM6 billion annually due to the sheer number of stateless individuals not being able to work legitimately and pay taxes,” he said, citing a study by PKR MP Wong Chen.
On that note, Ijan and Wong highlighted how the lack of citizenship often leaves the stateless with no choice but to work under exploitative conditions for survival.
Ijan mentioned that stateless youths drop out of school and begin working full-time by the age of 13, often up to 14 hours daily for less than RM500 a month.
To resolve the issue, they urged the government to address citizenship issues from the perspective of human rights and dignity, instead of awarding citizenship based on political and economic reasons.
Otherwise, they said thousands will remain exploited, legally unprotected, and prevented from accessing essential services such as healthcare and education.
Uphold transparency
Yap also reminded how the government had initially promised clearer guidelines for stateless individuals to obtain citizenship.
However, such guidelines have yet to be implemented.
“The government needs to introduce a clear and consistent SOP for stateless people to apply for citizenship, especially concerning the required documentation.
“Many cases are automatically rejected due to ‘insufficient documentation’, without further elaboration,” said Yap.
Echoing Yap’s sentiments, Wong emphasised that the government “should not act egoistically”, adding that it must work with NGOs and grassroots communities to address the matter.
While systemic barriers remain, they acknowledged how more Malaysians, including the government, have become more open in addressing statelessness.
However, Ijan emphasised the need for ongoing criticism as a catalyst for change.
“I hope that with the international scrutiny that the Malaysian government is currently facing due to this Fifa issue, it could at least help ignite more conversation surrounding the plight of stateless people in Malaysia.” - Mkini

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