Sarawak to include stateless people in vaccination drive
Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg says they can be jabbed as long as their status is confirmed by their community leaders.
Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg today said that stateless people will be included in the vaccination drive once their status is verified by their elected representatives or community leaders.
Speaking at a press conference in Kuching, he said it was necessary to verify their status as the state government understood there were those who were born in Sarawak but lack proper documentation.
“We do not have any problems as long as the status of the stateless person has been verified by their community leaders,” he said.
“We do not want to deny them the vaccination. That is why I visited Kapit a few weeks ago, to ensure that the stateless people there are not left behind in our Covid-19 vaccine rollout.”
He added that the state government had established a mechanism to address the issue.
In Sarawak, it is estimated that at least 60,000 people who were born in remote settlements do not have ICs.
One factor is the distance from these settlements to the National Registration Department offices which are located in towns and cities.
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