Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail is constantly contradicting himself in his attempts to justify the proposed amendments to citizenship legislation, said human rights lawyer Latheefa Koya.
Calling the amendments to require a foundling to register for citizenship “cruel”, Latheefa said there seemed to be a new excuse from the home minister every day to justify the changes.
“Every day we have a new excuse from the home minister to justify the cruel amendments.
“If parents are known to be migrants, the child won’t qualify anyway under Section 19B. Only if parents’ identity is unknown, will 19B save the child from being stateless. So 19B won’t open the floodgates to migrants,” the former MACC commissioner said on social media platform X.
Yesterday, Saifuddin told the Dewan Rakyat that Putrajaya wants to amend the citizenship law related to foundlings to prevent it from being abused by foreigners, citing cases where migrant couples abandoned their newborns after giving birth at government hospitals.
Saifuddin alleged that foreigners did this on purpose as they knew that the children could automatically get Malaysian citizenship as per Section 19B, Part III of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
‘Xenophobic excuse’
“It’s bizarre for the home minister to suggest foreign parents are abandoning their babies in droves in hospitals and walking off in an attempt to get Malaysian citizenship.
“It’s repugnant to common sense and a xenophobic excuse to justify the cruel amendments,” Latheefa added.
She also took Saifuddin to task over his claim that the migrants’ unpaid hospital bills amounted to hundreds of millions of ringgit.
“The home minister contradicts himself every day. On Sunday, he said only 142 foundlings applied over 10 years, but the next day he says foundlings cost hundreds of millions to hospitals.
“Can 142 babies cost hundreds of millions?” asked Latheefa, who was once Saifuddin’s party colleague in PKR. - Mkini
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