Special task force to handle citizenship issue involving kids born to Malaysian mums

PETALING JAYA: Cabinet has agreed to form a special task force to handle the issue regarding automatic citizenship for children born overseas to Malaysian mothers, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution.

The Home Minister said the special task force was formed on Feb 17 last month and will take up to six months to submit its papers to the Conference of Rulers.

"The special task force is chaired by me and includes members from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, the Prime Minister's Department for Law and Institutional Reforms as well as Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Division, and the Foreign Ministry.

"The special task force will require six months to finish up its research papers and we will present it to the relevant parties later in September," he said during the Dewan Rakyat meeting on Thursday (March 23).

Saifuddin was responding to a question by Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong who asked when will the Federal Constitution be amended to allow children born overseas to Malaysian mothers to gain citizenship.

"We need to prioritise the issue of automatic citizenship for children born to Malaysian mothers with foreign spouses.

"This amendment is important for Malaysian women to gain gender equality in this country and abroad," he said.

On Sept 9, 2021, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled in favour of a women's rights organisation called Family Frontiers to amend the Constitution.

The proposed amendment is to replace the word “whose father” in Part I and Part II of the Second Schedule with the words “at least one of the parents” to enable Malaysian mothers to receive their just rights according to the Federal Constitution.