Marrying outside country among causes of late registration of births

BALING, Feb 19 (Bernama) --  Muslims marrying outside Malaysia  especially in Thailand and not getting  the marriage endorsed  by Islamic religious departments  in the country is among the reasons for late registration of births by the National Registration Department.

Its director-general Datuk Mohammad Razin Abdullah said according to last year’s statistics, the department received 12,547 applications for late registration of births throughout the country with Sabah having the highest number,  at 3,365 cases.

"So when they have children,  inserting the father’s name in the birth certificate becomes an issue, because the marriages were not endorsed and there were also cases where the couple were never even married but had children,” he told reporters after attending an NRD programme in  Kampung Keda, Ulu Legong near here today.

Sarawak had the second highest number of late birth registrations last year, at  2,002 cases.

Mohammad Razin attributed this to the remote interiors of the vast states,  which made it difficult for parents to access NRD offices.

-- BERNAMA