Family Frontiers and the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy lauded the approved amendments to give Malaysian mothers the right to pass on their citizenship to offspring born overseas.
However, Family Frontiers maintained the amendment should have been retrospective rather than prospective, as the latter meant certain parties would be excluded. This includes those who have yet to apply, are now above the age of 18, and whose mothers had died.
The NGO urged the government to enforce the amendments as soon as possible once it is passed by the Senate, as delays would lead to the exclusion of children born before the amendment is actually gazetted and implemented.
It also lamented the removal of automatic citizenship for children of stateless, Malaysia-born permanent residents; the lowering of the age limit for citizenship applications from 21 to 18; and the revocation of citizenship for foreign wives if they divorce within two years of becoming a citizen.
“It is deeply disappointing that while making strides towards equality, the government has chosen to eliminate a constitutional pathway to citizenship.”
Similarly, Galen Centre CEO Azrul Khalib expressed fear that new generations of stateless children would be birthed with the amendment, greatly inhibiting their access to public healthcare.
He said many stateless permanent residents in Malaysia were not foreigners but included the Orang Asli and Orang Asal.
“It is a reality that they often live without birth registration and marriage certificates, documents which many of us often take for granted. The amendments appear to assume that eligible individuals will of course have such essential documentation.
“The stateless and their children would be paying foreigners’ fees at public healthcare facilities, paying out of their pockets for medical treatment. They would not be able to get health insurance.”
While commending home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s commitment to clear the backlog of citizenship applications by next year, Azrul said the citizenship system could not depend on his goodwill alone.
“What about the judgment of future home ministers after him?”
Separately, Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said he voted against the bill due to the regressive amendments, which he said would bar tens of thousands from becoming Malaysians.
The former Muda president added that this would force children of stateless permanent residents to go through the bureaucracy of applying with the national registration department rather than being granted automatic citizenship, as practised currently.