Quit saying 'denied right to citizenship', Saifuddin tells MPs

 

PARLIAMENT | Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has today urged all MPs to discontinue using the phrase “denied the right to citizenship” when discussing issues pertaining to foundlings.

Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat today, he said lawmakers from both sides of the political divide should instead participate in debates when the amendments to the Federal Constitution related to citizenship are tabled in the august house.

“Let us all take the responsibility to ensure that children’s rights are guaranteed and taken care of.

“Stop using the term ‘denied the right to citizenship’. Now, even if they can’t get (obtain citizenship) through Section 19B, we can process it (the application) under Article 15A (of the Federal Constitution).

“They will still get it (citizenship), there is no such phrase that they are denied,” the minister said.

Section 19B stipulates that abandoned children and foundlings be presumed to be born to Malaysian parents at the time of their birth if the identity of their biological parents cannot be identified. 

Meanwhile, Article 15A grants the government a special power to register children as citizens. 

Saifuddin (above) then reiterated that foundlings could also be granted citizenship rights as long as their births were registered in a complete manner upon discovery.

He was responding to a question by Mohamad Shafizan Kepli (GPS-Batang Lupar) on the concerns raised by NGOs over the “regressive” amendments to the Federal Constitution pertaining to citizenship.

‘Best formula’

Saifuddin explained that the government is in the process of looking for the best formula through engagements with lawmakers to resolve issues regarding the amendment before its tabling in the Dewan Rakyat.

This, he said, included sessions with opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin, Perikatan Nasional chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan and the coalition’s lawmakers in recent days.

Saifuddin revealed that the government has to tread carefully between the lines regarding this matter. 

“There are two dichotomies in this. One is that we open up citizenship - granting citizenship solely based on being born here, regardless of where they (the foundlings) are found or who their parents are. This is based on humanity, not to punish innocent children. 

“Another extreme is that we have laws, the Constitution and regulations in this country that must be followed. 

“Hence, the government is trying to harmonise, clarify and balance these two perspectives,” he added. 

Saifuddin has faced heavy backlash over the ministry’s amendments on citizenship, which critics say are regressive and would lead to more statelessness.



Defending his proposal, the minister previously claimed it was to prevent abuse by migrants seeking automatic citizenship for their babies born by abandoning them in government hospitals.

However, critics hit back and said that Saifuddin’s explanation was contradictory and a misinterpretation of the constitutional provision on foundlings.

Suhakam said the Home Ministry did not provide any empirical data to back its proposed citizenship law amendments.

One particularly contentious amendment would remove automatic citizenship for foundlings. With that, the power to grant citizenship would be transferred from the Federal Constitution to the home minister. - Mkini