Grant citizenship to children with adoption orders - Yeoh

ormer deputy women, family, and community development minister Hannah Yeoh slammed the Home Ministry for rejecting citizenship applications of adopted children who have gone through the court process.

“I urge the government to immediately grant citizenship to adopted children who have obtained an adoption order from the court. 

“The government should be grateful to the parents who adopted their children to realise the Keluarga Malaysia agenda,” said Yeoh (above) in a statement today, adding that doing otherwise would prove the government to be hypocritical.

The Segambut MP said this “never-ending issue” was made more complex for those who have obtained an adoption order from the court under the Adoption Act 1952 but had citizenship applications rejected by the Home Ministry without reason.

“Parents and their adopted children have to face the various social impacts of getting their citizenship applications rejected.

“These parents go through a lot of stress and emotional pressure. They are unable to make short-term or long-term plans in the care of their adopted children,” she said.

Yeoh named several issues often faced by these families. Among them are:

• The adopted children lack access to education in government schools and government-owned maternal and children’s clinics - which forces them to turn to oft-expensive private healthcare.

• They may not be able to go on holiday with their families abroad.

• They will have to pay foreign tourist rates to enter zoos, aquariums, or bird parks.

• They cannot open bank accounts and are unable to have their own insurance.

• They may also be barred from participating in any activities to represent Malaysia such as sports, leisure, and cultural events, among other barriers.

‘Granting citizenship only has benefits’

Two months ago, fellow DAP lawmaker Teo Nie Ching similarly proposed that the government grant citizenship to all stateless children whose father is Malaysian if they can provide DNA evidence.

The Home Ministry previously refused to accept such evidence.

Likewise, Teo said all stateless children who are legally adopted by their Malaysian parents should also be granted citizenship.

Teo had also cited the Federal Court's landmark decision on Nov 19 last year which ruled that abandoned babies should be recognised as Malaysians by operation of law.

Yeoh today argued that the government fails to understand that granting citizenship to adopted children who have adoption orders from the court can only benefit the government.

She said the most obvious benefits include reducing the government’s financial burden, assisting Malaysian parents who want to legally adopt a child, and reducing the number of abandoned children. - Mkini