Nearly 700,000 citizenship certificates issued until Jan 31 this year

The Malaysian government has issued citizenship certificate to 688,766 foreign citizens since the country achieved its independence until Jan 31 this year, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

The Home Ministry, in its written reply, said the highest number of foreigners to receive the Malaysian citizenship certificate were from China, totalling 69,904, followed by Indonesia (38,024) and India (19,301).

It was in response to a question from Idris Ahmad (PAS-Bukit Gantang) who wanted to know the number of foreign citizens who have been given the Malaysian citizenship status.

On the number of foreign nationals whose Malaysian citizenship had been revoked during the same period, the ministry said there were 10,828 people.