The proposed constitutional amendments pertaining to the granting of citizenship will be brought to the cabinet tomorrow, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.
This comes despite major backlash and pushback from various quarters, with some arguing that the proposed amendments will worsen conditions for stateless people.
Critics believe it could render more people stateless or place stateless individuals in precarious positions.
Azalina, when speaking to the press at Parliament today, said there is a “need for more clarity and explanation” on the matter before she can comment on the heavily criticised proposed amendments.
“Maybe I can make statements after the cabinet meeting tomorrow.
“I think a few of us (ministers) are not involved in the discussion with the Conference of Rulers.
“So, there must be further explanation on the angle of the constitutional amendment,” she said after attending an engagement session with Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and educational practitioners from Pengerang at Parliament today.
Constitutional amendments regarding citizenship matters require prior consent from the Conference of Rulers.
Yesterday, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail defended the proposal to table eight proposals to amend relevant provisions related to the granting of citizenships under the Federal Constitution.
Saifuddin, in the Dewan Rakyat, said the eight include a “sensitive” proposal over granting citizenship to stateless children and foundlings - an infant abandoned by their parents and discovered and cared for by others.
The proposed amendment, among others, is to amend the Second Schedule, Part II Section 1(e) that grants every stateless person born in Malaysia citizenship by operation of law as well as Second Schedule, Part III, Section 19(b) which grants abandoned children citizenship by operation of law.
‘Home minister lacks understanding’
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has since slammed Saifuddin’s defence of the proposed constitutional amendments on citizenship.
Its director Zaid Malek said Saifuddin is ignoring the plight of the stateless, instead framing it as a security issue due to the country purportedly facing “problems involving migrants and others”.
“This in itself, at best, shows a total lack of understanding by the home minister and, at worst, a deliberate misrepresentation of the issue of statelessness in the country.
“Those who are stateless deserve citizenship by operation of law as per the Constitution but remain in the predicament due to the oversight and failure of the National Registration Department (NRD) and Home Ministry to correctly administer the law,” Zaid said in a statement today.
Zaid stressed that the proposed amendments also “entirely ignore” legislative history regarding citizenship, where everyone born on Malaysian soil was accorded citizenship under the jus soli principle. - Mkini
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