90% Of People Who Gave Up Their Malaysian Citizenship Are Chinese, Said Home Minister
More than 56,000 Malaysians have renounced their citizenship.
By Tang Ruxyn — 20 May 2016, 12:16 PM
More than 56,000 Malaysians have renounced their citizenship over the last 10 years, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said
He said that a total of 56,576 people have given up their Malaysian citizenship from 2006 till April 2016, as reported by The Star.
Out of these 56,575 people, Ahmad Zahid said that 49,864 of them are from the Chinese community, 1,833 Indians, and 834 from the Malay community.
"Those who gave up their citizenship did so after obtaining citizenships from other countries," he was quoted as saying by The Star.
It was reported that the Deputy Prime Minister also revealed that 43,453 foreigners were granted Malaysian citizenship since 2006
He added that most of them are from Indonesia, India and Thailand.
Ahmad Zahid said this in response to a question by Batu Kawan MP Kasthuriraani Patto in the Parliament.
Earlier in March, Ahmad Zahid had made a similar disclosure in the Parliament after Sepang MP Mohamed Hanipa Maidin asked for the reasons given by those who had chosen to renounce their citizenship
According to Zahid, in January this year alone, 1,102 Malaysians had renounced their citizenship.
A total of 11,080 Malaysians had renounced their citizenship in 2011, while another 10,644 chose not to retain their citizenship the year before.
Since then, the number of Malaysians renouncing their citizenship has reduced.
On a related note, a large number of people with dual nationalities are willing to give it up to hold a Malaysian citizenship: