DECEMBER 14 — Family Frontiers expresses deep concerns about new information that would further limit the citizenship rights of Malaysian women trying to pass on citizenship to their children born overseas.

In response to a question by Senator Datuk Seri Zurainah Musa in today’s session in Dewan Negara, Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution stated that additional limitations would be placed on children born overseas to Malaysian mothers because they are likely to have dual citizenship. Related to that, children with dual citizenship will have to choose citizenship at the age of 18 instead of 21, and that citizenship granted to children of Malaysian women would only apply to one generation.

This is concerning because it adds to the discrimination that Malaysian women continue to be subjected to under the law, despite Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution which does not allow discrimination on the basis of gender.

The issue of dual citizenship does not just stem from Malaysian women. Malaysian fathers have always had the right to confer citizenship to their overseas born children, regardless of whether the child also holds the mother’s citizenship and/or citizenship to a third country. Another possible source of dual citizenship are children whose parents are both Malaysian, but are born in a country that follows the jus soli principle — i.e. a country that grants citizenship to anyone born there, such as Canada, Australia or France.

Malaysia is one of only 24 countries in the world that continue to prevent mothers from conferring citizenship to their children on an equal basis as men. This means that the children of Malaysian men married to women from any of 171 countries could have dual citizenship. However, the children of Malaysian men are not scrutinised by the government in the same way that the children of Malaysian women are, solely on the basis of the Malaysian parent’s gender. Additionally, no generational limitations apply to their citizenship in the way that is being proposed for children or grandchildren of Malaysian women.

At issue here is that the proposed amendments are introducing further discriminations that would continue to unduly burden Malaysian women with restrictions to citizenship that are not equally applied to Malaysian men.

Malaysia is one of only 24 countries in the world that continue to prevent mothers from conferring citizenship to their children on an equal basis as men. — Picture by Devan Manuel
Malaysia is one of only 24 countries in the world that continue to prevent mothers from conferring citizenship to their children on an equal basis as men. — Picture by Devan Manuel

The Home Affairs Minister also revealed that the amendment will only be applied prospectively, and not retrospectively, to prevent opening “floodgates”. This directly contradicts previous statements made by the government guaranteeing that “children born abroad before or after Malaysia Day will be eligible for citizenship under Clause (1), Article 14 of the Federal Constitution, as long as one of their parents is a Malaysian.” This means that all children of Malaysian women born before the current amendment passes would still be required to apply for Malaysian citizenship. Doing so will not resolve the problems faced by thousands of children whose applications are still ‘in process,’ and will effectively create a subclass of overseas-born children of Malaysian women.

In response to the question by Senator Hussin Ismail, the Minister of Home Affairs clarified that his Ministry will not approve applications for citizenship by registration under Article 15(2) for children who have not set foot in Malaysia before. This eliminates the only pathway to citizenship currently available to overseas-born children to Malaysian mothers who may not have been able to travel back to Malaysia due to financial difficulties, high-risk pregnancies or other health issues, including long term illness. Additionally, there are mothers engaged in custody battles, or single mothers who may be in such circumstances which may have prevented or made their return to Malaysia difficult.

If this category of children are automatically barred from citizenship, the Minister is once again discriminating against and penalising the children of Malaysian mothers.

An example of this is Li Li, who is a Malaysian mother hailing from Johor Baru. She is currently single-handedly raising her non-Malaysian child in Italy. Li Li had to deliver her child overseas in 2017 due to fear of miscarriage that she experienced with her first pregnancy. Having gone through a divorce, Li Li says she is left with no support system in Italy and is hoping to return to Malaysia where she can raise her child with the support of her family in Johor Baru. However, she is constantly faced with the uncertainty that her child will only be given a 30-day visa and would thereafter have to struggle as a non-citizen in Malaysia without equal access to fundamental rights such as education and healthcare. She also fears the possibility of being separated from her young daughter due to Malaysian immigration regulations.

If the Government’s stated intention is truly to “mempermudahkan, bukan mempersulitkan,” then these proposed amendments do not deliver on that promise. As citizens of this country, we Malaysian women insist that our children are treated as equal to the children of Malaysian men.

We also call on the Government to withdraw the five regressive amendments to citizenship provisions in the Federal Constitution that will exacerbate statelessness in Malaysia.

* Submitted by the Association of Family Support & Welfare Selangor & KL (Family Frontiers)

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.