Zurainah Musa said the amendment, initially scheduled to be tabled at the parliamentary meeting in June, has now been pushed to September.

“I hope the MPs will table this bill (as soon as possible) so that it can be brought to the Dewan Negara,” she said during a panel session organised by the NGO Family Frontiers here today.

Zurainah hoped the government will cut any red tape related to the issue and ensure the amendment is tabled without delay.

She also said she would do her best to assist mothers whose children are waiting for citizenship.

In March, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said the government was expected to table the proposed amendment to enable automatic citizenship to children born overseas to Malaysian women in the June Dewan Rakyat meeting.

However, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail later said the government needed time to examine several clauses and articles under the Federal Constitution before presenting them to the Conference of Rulers and subsequently tabling the bill in Parliament.

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Noor Aziah Awal, who was also a panellist, said further postponement of the proposed amendment would only impact the lives of families affected by the issue.

“We need to move on. Let’s get the first step done and table it. That’s our (Suhakam’s) view,” she said.

As it stands, children born overseas to Malaysian women are not entitled to automatic citizenship as the Federal Constitution only provides for citizenship through fathers.