Prior to this, many Malaysian females called for the Malaysian government to give their children born overseas automatic citizenship.
On 18 February, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said issued a joint statement on the matter.
The statement talks about how the Cabinet has approved a draft of “constitutional amendments to grant automatic citizenship to children born overseas to Malaysian mothers married to foreigners.”
It is said that the amendments will be tabled in parliament in the current seating as it had reached all the legal requirements.
According to BERNAMA and the statement, the amendments involve Section 1(1)(d) and Section 1(1)(e) of Part I, Schedule Two and Section 1(b) and Section 1 (c) of Part II of the same schedule.
“The proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution are to replace the word ‘their father’ in Part I and Part II of Schedule Two with the phrase “at least one of the parents” to enable Malaysian mothers to enjoy equal rights under the Federal Constitution.”
“Other amendments related to citizenship especially Part III will be studied in greater detail by a committee established under the Home Ministry (KDN) and will be tabled before the Cabinet after these proposed amendments have been finalised by taking into consideration feedback from all interested parties.”
The ministers added that this is in line with the Unity Government’s efforts to give equal rights to both women and men, eliminate discrimination against women, overcome weaknesses in citizenship provisions and resolve the backlog of such cases affecting Malaysian women.
“The result of this decision is that children born overseas before or after Malaysia Day where one of their parents is a Malaysian have the right to get citizenship by operation of Clause (1) of Article 14 of the Federal Constitution.”
This is certainly great news and we’re sure that this is not the end of it, so stay tuned for more updates!
Also read: Federal Court Unanimously Grants First Stateless MUDA Member Malaysian Citizenship
