Stay true to promise on citizenship for children born abroad

IT has been 10 months since the Home Minister first announced the government’s commitment to a constitutional amendment to “facilitate citizenship by ‘operation of law’ for overseas-born children of Malaysian women” in Parliament on Sept 22, 2021.

On Nov 15, 2021, the de facto Law Minister said the amendment would be tabled by July 2022 along with other amendments in the pipeline. Family Frontiers would like to ask the government about its intentions to honour its commitment and to provide Malaysian women with an update on the plan to implement, or at least table the amendment during this Parliament meeting. The government must provide a time frame for the tabling of the amendment.

Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh has asked about the status of the constitutional amendment to grant citizenship to children of either parent who is a Malaysian citizen. The Law Minister replied with already known information – that a committee has been formed to study matters relating to the amendment.

The Law Minister announced the establishment of the Committee of Proposed Amendments in Parliament on Dec 16, 2021. The Committee was set up to conduct a study on citizenship matters, and finalise the results of its consultation and study within six months, after which it would be submitted to the Cabinet and the Conference of Rulers.

It’s been seven months since the announcement of the establishment of the Committee, and Family Frontiers would like to request updates on the status of the study and for the results to be made public. We would also like to stress the importance of consulting with grassroots organisations and impacted communities to ensure that on-the-ground realities and struggles are taken into account.

It is crucial that the government stays true to its promises and obligations, made both nationally and internationally, to protect women and children. By delaying the reform for Malaysian women’s equal citizenship rights, the government is deliberately continuing to place its women and children in positions of harm and violence. Malaysian women live a lifetime of uncertainty; they also live with the possibility of being trapped in toxic/abusive marriages when the child’s legal status is completely dependent on the foreign father’s.

Children continue to be denied equal access to fundamental rights such as affordable healthcare, education and the right to stay with their families.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Grant Malaysian women equal rights as Malaysian men to confer automatic citizenship on their overseas-born children without further delay!

ASSOCIATION OF FAMILY SUPPORT AND WELFARE SELANGOR AND KUALA LUMPUR (FAMILY FRONTIERS)