8yo Girl Abandoned By Parents Since Birth Not Allowed To Attend School As She’s A Non-Citizen

Everyone deserves a right to education!

29-year-old Siti Nur Aimuni Mat Yunan has been taking care of her adopted niece, eight-year-old Siti Nur Puteri Balqis, from when the latter was just three-days-old and her birth parents vanished without a trace.

Since then, Aimuni and her father, Mat Yunan Hamad, have been taking care of Puteri and they are now fervently hoping that Puteri gets to go to a school even though she only has a non-citizen birth document. Puteri was supposed to start schooling in early March this year but had to postpone her intentions due to her birth documents, Aimuni told Astro Awani.

“Previously, Puteri had gone to school and learnt the Al-Quran thanks to the kindness of a teacher but how long can we depend on her?”

Aimuni says her niece currently only has the red-coloured birth certificate for identification. They’ve gone to the National Registration Department (JPN) at Kota Bharu, Kelantan multiple times to obtain a legal birth certificate for Puteri but each time their application has been unsuccessful as they did not meet the required conditions.

To obtain a valid birth certificate, Puteri’s birth parents would have to come to the JPN for the registration process. To ease their struggles, Aimuni has lodged a police report and a sworn statement to get temporary custody of her niece. Unfortunately, Puteri’s birth parents are in Thailand.

“We’ve tried our level best to contact her family whom we believe to be fish vendors at Takbai, Thailand but it has all been unsuccessful so far.”

Kelantan JPN Director Asrehan Ab Razak said the identification document owned by Siti Nur Puteri Balqis was valid and issued by his party. However, he added that the child is still a non-citizen as JPN only registers the child’s birth based on the documents submitted, as well as in line with the acts and regulations in force.

What do you think about Puteri’s situation? Let us know in the comments section!

Also read: “I feel lonely” M’sian Boy Can’t Stop Crying After Sister Goes For First Day Of School