In a statement, the group also urged the government to consider the Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance’s (MCRA) counterproposal to the Constitution (Amendment) 2024 Bill, which it said had been sent to every MP.
“Seventeen months have passed since the government first committed to tabling the constitutional amendments in February 2023, yet this promise remains unfulfilled.
“As a result, Malaysian mothers are left in a state of anxiety and uncertainty, continuing to feel like second-class citizens.
“Even in 2024, mothers are forced to return to Malaysia in the late stages of pregnancy to secure citizenship for their babies, risking their lives,” Family Frontiers said.
One of the proposed amendments to the bill will automatically confer citizenship to children born overseas to Malaysian mothers, but will not apply retrospectively to children born earlier under the same parameters.
Other proposed amendments will make it tougher to obtain citizenship, including by lowering the age limit of childhood citizenship applications from 21 to 18 and removing automatic citizenship for the children of permanent residents born in Malaysia.
MCRA said it had repeatedly raised the negative consequences of the bill to home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail over the past year, but no action had been taken to address these concerns between March and July this year.
The group reiterated its call to the government to separate the amendments concerning mothers from those deemed regressive, which it proposed delaying for further review and consultation.
Meanwhile, Family Frontiers said that if the bill is passed, children born to Malaysian mothers before the amendment is gazetted will remain non-citizens.
“Our laws should not contribute to the separation and suffering of families. Instead, they should honour the role of mothers in developing future generations and protect their children,” Family Frontiers said.
The group called on the government to stop delaying the amendments, and ensure that they are decoupled and applied retroactively.