Lawyers call for law reforms to solve stateless issue

Lawyer Ranee Sree Dharan suggests that the word ‘mother’ be amended to ‘parent’ to solve citizenship woes.

KUALA LUMPUR: Rights lawyers have called for a constitutional amendment on citizenship to solve the issue of stateless children in Malaysia.

Lawyer Ranee Sreedharan has proposed that Section 17, Schedule 2, Part III of the Federal Constitution be amended, adding that it would help to address and figure out most of the citizenship problems in the country.

“Usually, when we read the constitution, the legitimate children can get citizenship if one of the parents is a Malaysian.

“But for Section 17, the illegitimate children have to follow the mother.

“If the mother is a foreigner, but the father is Malaysian, then the children will not get their citizenship as Malaysians,” she said today after attending a gathering to address statelessness among Malaysians.

She said if this Section 17 is amended, then a major hurdle to solving statelessness can be overcome.

She suggested that the word “mother” be amended and changed to parents (to denote both father and mother).

She also said what was stated in Section 17 went against Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which talks about equality before the law and non-discrimination.

“Most laws in Malaysia interpret the word ‘parent’ as father and mother. But not in Section 17 — it discriminates against the gender by following the mother and dismissing the rights of the father. That is inequality.”

She also called for amendments to the Adoption Act 1952 to allow parents of an adopted child to pass on their citizenship to the child.

She said the act only allows the transfer of property rights, wealth and birth certificates to the adopted children, but not citizenship. This was not fair to the stateless child, who may have been adopted from a welfare home.

Another lawyer, Annou Xavier, also called for an amendment to be made to Section 17, saying that it would be able to help many stateless people.

“In the Constitution, under Article 14(b), Second Schedule Part II, citizenship can be obtained if at least one parent is a citizen or permanent resident at the time of birth.

“But in Section 17, an illegitimate child follows the mother instead. The problem arises when the mother is a foreigner and the National Registration Department would take the easy way out by asking the child to take on the mother’s citizenship,” he said.

Klang MP Charles Santiago says that law reforms would be difficult as it has to go through Parliament.

He said the issue can be addressed if an amendment is made, but he admitted that it would be difficult and would take time. -FMT