Cabinet agrees to citizenship of kids born abroad to M’sian mums

PETALING JAYA: The Cabinet’s nod to the proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution, which would enable children born abroad to Malaysian mothers to gain automatic Malaysian citizenship, was announced by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Law and Institutional Reform Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said in a joint statement.

They said the Cabinet had agreed to amend the Federal Constitution, in particular, Section 1(1)(d) and Section 1(1)(e) of Part I in the Second Schedule, and Section 1(b) and Section 1(c) in Part II of the same Schedule.

The amendment is expected to be tabled in the current Dewan Rakyat meeting.

“The proposed amendment to the Constitution pertains to changing the term ‘father’ in Parts I and II of the Second Schedule with the term ‘at least one of the parents’ to allow Malaysian mothers to get their parental rights according to the Constitution,” they said in the statement released on Friday.

In addition, amendments to Part III of the Federal Constitution would undergo a more detailed study by a committee formed under the Home Ministry.

The proposal would be presented to the Cabinet after considering all the stakeholders’ views, they added in the statement.

“This is in line with the unity government’s commitment to recognise equality for women and men, removing discrimination against women in Malaysia, and overcoming weaknesses that arise in citizenship provisions.

“The government wants to solve the high backlog of cases for affected Malaysian women who had applied for their children’s citizenship in a process that takes too long and is unreasonable, and to give a precise definition and avoid providing a definition different from the court’s,” they said.

The ministers added that the effect of the decision is 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.