Suhakam said the government appeared to be in disarray in preparing the bill, which is expected to be tabled at the coming Dewan Rakyat meeting.
The commission also pointed out that the Federal Constitution required the government to obtain the concurrence of the governors of Sabah and Sarawak before amending the constitution’s citizenship clauses.
“Suhakam strongly urges the government to seriously reconsider the removal of the automatic right to citizenship for children born within Malaysia to permanent residents,” the commission said in the statement.
“The rights to citizenship that have been entrenched in the Federal Constitution through the wisdom of our forefathers should not be taken away by way of any amendment to the constitution,” Suhakam said.
It also called for a proposed amendment granting citizenship to overseas-born children of Malaysian women to be applied retrospectively.
The commission reiterated that amendments to citizenship laws should be made “in the spirit of enhancing citizenship rights and not take away or dilute them”.
Last Friday, Sabah deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan said the state Cabinet decided that the removal of automatic citizenship for children born to Malaysian permanent residents should apply only in Peninsular Malaysia.
Kitingan, who is Keningau MP, said the proposed amendment would only worsen matters for the stateless in Sabah, and hinder their access to education, health services and employment.
Suhakam disagreed with Kitingan’s view and urged Putrajaya and MPs to hold more discussions. It also said there should not be two laws on the matter.
“The current issue of statelessness in Malaysia did not happen in a vacuum nor is it accidental. It reflects and exposes the perpetual creation of statelessness in our public service delivery for decades,” Suhakam said.
The commission called for legal and administrative safeguards to prevent anyone from becoming stateless or losing identity documents because of cracks in the system.
The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat on March 25. Among its provisions is one to allow 18-year-olds to apply for citizenship by registration.