MalayMail-Nov 1
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail today sought to clarify the proposed “regressive” changes to Malaysia’s citizenship laws that would close some pathways for stateless children to gain nationality here, saying that there were still legal avenues for them to pursue the matter. Acknowledging the sensitivity of the issue raised by civil societies, Saifuddin insisted that these marginalized groups of stateless children still have legal options to obtain citizenship by way of registration under the Federal Constitution. He said this was conveyed to the civil societies during their various engagement sessions with the government. Under the Federal Constitution, acquisition of citizenship can be obtained by way of verification of citizenship status by Operation of Law (Article 14); by registration (Article 15, 15A and 16) and by naturalisation (Article 19). In the proposed constitutional amendments, the Malaysian government plans to table amendments that would solve the citizenship problems plaguing the overseas-born children of Malaysian women with foreign husbands.
However, civil societies have since voiced their objections to the proposed amendments that would also affect children born out of wedlock to Malaysian men, stateless children adopted by Malaysian parents, foundlings or children who were abandoned (including those abandoned upon birth), and families with generations of stateless children born in Malaysia. Read more at: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2023/11/01/on-proposed-regressive-citizenship-law-changes-saifuddin-nasution-says-stateless-kids-still-have-legal-avenues-to-be-malaysian/99668
