The Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance (MRCA) said – despite several MPs raising concerns and referencing the existence of Orang Asal permanent residents – Saifuddin “confused himself” by stating that the Orang Asal would not be impacted by the amendments, based on articles 160 and 161 of the Federal Constitution.
It said that according to Saifuddin, whether they are affected depends on whether these individuals have the necessary birth and marriage registrations.
Article 160 spells out the characteristics that define a Malay person, while Article 161 deals with the use of the English language in Sabah and Sarawak.
“The minister’s response reflects a lack of clarity and understanding of the issues affecting the stateless Orang Asal,” MRCA said in a statement.
It said that to date, the ministry has not acknowledged its discrimination and lack of care in previous policies, and failure to issue citizenship and identification documents to previous generations of local communities, thereby causing the growth of “homegrown statelessness”.
It also claimed that Saifuddin contradicted himself again when he acknowledged that there are local residents who are holders of “red ICs”, but declared that there is no homegrown statelessness in Malaysia.
“Red ICs” are issued to permanent residents, as opposed to the MyKad for citizens.
MRCA said every resident who is a “red IC” holder is stateless because they are not citizens, and such status would affect the children of local-born permanent residents who would no longer be entitled to automatic citizenship.
“How can this bill be voted on when the minister himself is so ill-advised, misled and confused?
“The minister must heed the call of the MPs for the bill and its policies to be sent to a parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) for review and oversight to ensure accountability,” it said.
Yesterday, former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin also called on the government to refer the proposed constitutional amendments to a PSSC for approval over concerns about the welfare of women and children.
He noted that among the provisions that need to be reviewed is one that states only children born in the federation, and with at least one parent being a citizen at the time of birth, are eligible for citizenship by operation of law.
Human rights advocate Eric Paulsen also accused Saifuddin of conflating the number of migrant workers in Malaysia with the number of permanent residents when trying to justify the proposed abolition of automatic citizenship for children of permanent residents.
Paulsen urged Saifuddin to “come clean” on the number of permanent residents in the country and provide a breakdown by ethnicity and nationality.
The bill is expected to be wound up and voted on today.