MIRI: A minority ethnic group living in obscurity in the deep interior of Sarawak in the island of Borneo, called the “Sabans,” will be given citizenship status despite being left out of the state government’s official citizenship list.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said he had learned about the plight of the Sabans, most of whom are living in rural northern Sarawak, at the start of his four-day official visit to Sarawak.
Officials at the Miri High Court chamber here also briefed him on the plight of other stateless natives like Penans with no birth certificates or MyKads.
The Sabans number between 5,000 and 10,000, and like the Penans, are facing a number of problems related to their personal documents.
Nazri said he would meet with Sarawak leaders and seek their cooperation to solve the woes faced by these minority folk.
“I will speak with Datuk Seri Awang Tengah (State Minister of Public Utilities and State Second Minister of Planning and Resources Management) and inform him of the problem.
“This ethnic group can be recognised as citizens once the state government includes them by making some amendments to the state constitution. There is no need for the Federal Constitution to be amended.
“This is a problem confined to Sarawak. It is not widespread and can be dealt with,” he said after visiting the court complex with a delegation of senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Department.
Mobile Court officials who have been visiting the interior of Sarawak regularly in the past two years have found tribes like the Sabans who face problems because they are not officially recognised as Malaysians.
Nazri said he was very happy with the role of the Mobile Court in helping the rural natives living in isolated regions in Sarawak and Sabah, and praised Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Melanjun whose brainchild it is.
Nazri will travel some 1,000km in his Sarawak trip. After Miri, he will visit Bintulu, Sibu and Kuching.
