Family Frontiers slams Putrajaya's move to appeal High Court’s judgment on children citizenship case

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — The Association of Family Support & Welfare Selangor & Kuala Lumpur (Family Frontiers) said today it is appalled and disappointed by Putrajaya’s attempts to overturn the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling in the citizenship case of six Malaysian mothers with overseas born children.

In a statement, its president Suriani Kempe accused the government of turning a blind eye to the plight of the mothers whose children cannot return home to Malaysia as citizens and are struggling to be united with their mothers due to travel restrictions.

“By refusing to allow us to proceed with the case, the government insists on continuing to deprive these children of accessible and affordable education, healthcare, and the ability to meet their families.

“Some of these children are now above the age they are entitled to citizenship (21 years old) and are relegated to the status of tourists when they come home to see their family.

“The border closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have made it even more difficult and have effectively denied them the ability to be with their families during this difficult time,” she said.

On December 18, 2020, six Malaysian mothers filed a lawsuit seeking a court order for all relevant government agencies including the National Registration Department, Immigration Department and Malaysian embassies to issue citizenship documents (including passports and identity cards) to children born abroad to Malaysian mothers with foreign spouses.

The Malaysian government had on January 22 filed an application to strike out the lawsuit, with the striking out application heard on April 27 and with the judge then delivering his decision to dismiss the striking out bid.

Now the government is trying to contest the decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court on May 6 2021 that permitted the constitutional challenge filed by Family Frontiers and the mothers to proceed.

“The court ruling on May 6 was greeted with a great sense of hope among the hundreds of Malaysian women awaiting citizenship for their children who are part of Family Frontiers’ network of Malaysian mothers.

“It is very disheartening that the government of Malaysia would attempt to deprive these women of their avenue for justice, and prolong the hardships of Malaysian women and their non-citizen children.

“Even as the government of Malaysia continues to question the validity and sincerity of the case filed concerning Malaysia’s citizenship laws, thousands of Malaysian women and their non-citizen children continue facing unequal access to fundamental rights, each day.

“This is a missed opportunity for the Malaysian Government to rectify this discrimination and make amends to its women who have been negatively impacted for over 60 years by their inability to obtain citizenship for their children on an equal basis as Malaysian men,” the group said in the statement.