Forty-one-year-old Seri Mulyati has been trying to apply for citizenship since she was 12 years old despite being lawfully eligible, as she was born to a permanent resident (PR) father.
Born at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang on September 14, 1983, Seri’s citizenship application should have been approved as her parents’ marriage was lawfully registered in Malaysia.
Being the eldest among her five siblings, Seri was the only one who was denied Malaysian citizenship while all of her other siblings are Malaysians.
At the age of 19, Seri jointly applied for Malaysian citizenship under Article 15 (a) with her father. However, only her father’s application was approved - albeit years later in 2009.
“Despite repeated attempts to obtain citizenship, Seri’s citizenship status remains unresolved.
“Her renewal applications for the MyKAS were also rejected, the latest was in 2020,” Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) adviser Latheefa Koya said during a press conference at the rights group's headquarters today.
According to the National Registration Department (NRD), MyKAS is a green-coloured temporary resident identity card issued under Regulation 5 (3) of the National Registration Regulations 1990. It has an expiry date indicated on the card and has to be renewed every five years.
Seri shared her plight in acquiring citizenship today, together with two other women who were in similar predicaments.
Many lose hope
Khairunisa Ibrahim and Wiwin Handayani were both born in Malaysia to permanent resident fathers but had been repeatedly denied citizenship.
As a result, both have been denied the right to enter public schools, thus depriving them of proper education.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old Vanessa, who was born to a Malaysian father, had her citizenship application rejected outright as her parents’ marriage was not registered.
“By virtue of her father’s Malaysian citizenship, she is entitled by operation of law to Malaysian citizenship pursuant to Section 1 (a) and 1 (e) of Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution,” Latheefa said.
Additionally, Latheefa mentioned that three of the women have been told to verify their citizenship status at their respective embassies.
Apart from that, Latheefa also said that there were additional “conditions” such as having the parents present while settling the application process and also displaying their marriage certificate, despite the conditions not being stated in law.
“Many stateless persons give up because of these obstacles and conditions that don’t exist in the law; that are conjured up by the NRD or the Home Ministry.
“I don’t know who comes up with these things. Many of them just give up because how many years can you try before getting tired, before losing hope?” she said.
‘War against children’
Former Malaysian Bar president Ambiga Sreenevasan, who was also present at the press conference, accused the government of declaring a “war against children” with the new constitutional amendments regarding citizenship.
She said with the proposed amendments, it will be easier for the government to reject these citizenship applications, as the current provisions under the Federal Constitution endow these children with automatic citizenship.
“This is a war on children by this government. This government is doing it. I’m horrified,” she said.
Ambiga also contended that the government is attempting to legitimise administrative hurdles faced by stateless persons by replacing the phrase citizenship by “operation of law” to citizenship by registration”, which alluded to an authorisation shift to the NRD instead of the Federal Constitution.
“You think it’s just wording, removing the words ‘citizenship by operation of law’. It’s not. It is very, very serious.
“And I think citizenship is something that is so key to our existence. Anything they do in relation to that, we better be careful because I don’t know what else they will do.
“What else are they going to do tomorrow with the citizenship law?” she asked.
Suhakam had previously reiterated its concerns and objections to the proposed series of amendments to the citizenship provisions of the Federal Constitution.
The commission particularly referred to five proposed amendments that will affect children born out of wedlock to Malaysian men, stateless children adopted by Malaysian parents and foundlings.
Earlier this month, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the cabinet has agreed to the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution related to citizenship. - Mkini
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