“Individual MPs must examine their conscience. They cannot knowingly vote for an unconstitutional provision with such a cruel and wide-ranging effect upon innocent children.

“They must not let the parliamentary party whip emasculate their sense of right and wrong,” the Lawyers for Liberty adviser said, adding that Clause 12 of the bill prevents children born overseas to Malaysian mothers before the act comes into force from automatically becoming Malaysian citizens.

“Thousands of existing stateless children born to Malaysian mothers overseas will remain so.

“They will receive no benefit from the new amendments despite the government’s repeated promises. In short, they have been cheated once again,” he said.

Surendran also said that the government was drawing an “arbitrary and unconstitutional” line in the sand.

“By virtue of Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, ‘all persons are equal before the law’ but the bill discriminates against the existing children.

“There is no rational basis for treating children differently based on whether they are born before or after the date of the act.

“Any reasonable person can see how unjust this is,” he said, adding that the Federal Constitution overrides the rule of construction that acts cannot be applied retrospectively.

“It costs nothing for the government to include existing stateless children under the new amendments,” he said.