Mothers file constitutional challenge to grant their children citizenship

 

A group has filed a constitutional challenge, seeking a declaration that Malaysian women married to foreign spouses can automatically get citizenship for their children who are born overseas.

This came after the government refused to budge on allowing the children of these mothers to be eligible for citizenship.

The suit, which named the federal government as the defendant, was filed at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today by the Family Frontiers president Suri Kempe, together with six Malaysian mothers.

Among the mothers were Myra Eliza Mohd Danil, Adlyn Adam Teoh, Choong Wai Li and Ng Mei Mei. Two others chose to remain anonymous.

Family Frontiers president Suri Kempe

In the originating summons, the plaintiffs sought a declaration that Article 14(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution read with the Second Schedule, Part II, sections 1(b) and 1(c) were discriminatory and violated Article 8.

Article 14(1)(b) read together with Second Schedule, Part II, sections 1(b) and 1(c) only grant fathers to pass down citizenship to children born overseas.

Article 8 prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.

The suit was seeking a declaration that the children of these mothers should also be granted the right to citizenship.

It was also seeking to compel the government and its agencies to issue citizenship documents, including identity cards and passports, to all children born outside of Malaysia, whose mothers are Malaysians.

Earlier this month, Deputy Home Minister Ismail Mohamed Said cited national security concerns in saying why Malaysian mother married to foreigners could not get citizenship for their children.

"This is because in other countries, (most) children born overseas will follow their father's citizenship.

"Therefore, we must be diligent to prevent the child from being granted dual-citizenship," Ismail said.

However, at a virtual press conference announcing the constitutional challenge, one mother, Adlyn, showed how this was not always the case.

"When my child was born in Beijing, he didn't qualify for China nationality, my nationality, or his father's nationality.

"The poor baby was stateless," she said.

She added that the Malaysian embassy refused to give the family an exemption to return to Malaysia.

Thus, Adlyn said she had to appeal to Hong Kong to grant the child a passport on humanitarian grounds, after which they were allowed to fly back.

Adyln's son, now eight years old, still has not received citizenship and the family is still waiting for the government to respond to the citizenship application - an experienced shared by many other families in similar situations.

Former law professor Gurdial Singh Nijar said Adlyn's case illustrates the desperate situation faced by Malaysian mothers whose children are not conferred citizenship.

"They're forced into a situation to look for citizenship elsewhere, out of necessity, because otherwise once the child is stateless, they can't travel anywhere," he said.

Previously, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh revealed that there were an estimated 40,000 pending applications from Malaysian women seeking citizenship for their children.  - Mkini