Gabungan NGO Negeri Sabah (Gannos) president Nani Sakam said the survey, which began on June 29 and ended today, estimated there were about 60,000 stateless people in the state.
He said the initiative by its 29 affiliates, which comprised local NGOs, was to complement the government’s efforts to tackle the issue of stateless people in the country, particularly in Sabah.
It was earlier reported that there were 800,000 people in Sabah who claimed to be stateless or without any identification documents.
Among the reasons given by those who claimed to be stateless and undocumented were unregistered or no proper documentation of marriages and unregistered births, Nani said.
“The children can come from marriages that involve a foreigner and a local, both foreigners and even locals. The children are left undocumented because there were no proper marriage documentations or the parents did not register the births of their children,” he said.
Gannos deputy president Dr Azlina Ekat said the main reason locals in the interior areas of Sabah failed to register the births of their children was due to poverty and lack of awareness.
“The villages are remote, some about nine hours away by road. They have difficulty of access and do not have transport, causing them not to register the births, which are done mostly by midwives,” she said.
“Some also regard registering the births as not important.”
Gannos said the youngest undocumented persons were babies while the oldest was a 76-year-old man from the Philippines who had been living in Sabah for over 50 years.
Nani said they would compile and present their findings to the state and federal governments soon.
“Our survey has nothing to do with illegal immigrants but strictly on informing that stateless people still exist in the state. We only gather the information.
“And we are not responsible to give identification documents to these people, only the government can do that,” he said, adding that all districts in Sabah had stateless and undocumented people.
He also advised the public not to entertain anyone using the organisation’s name regarding the survey.
“We have learned some quarters have used our organisation’s name and pretended they were still conducting the survey and asking for money. We have lodged a police report on this,” he said.