Regressive changes will exacerbate statelessness

 

 The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) welcomes the Madani government’s efforts to address the issue of whether overseas-born children of Malaysian mothers should be entitled to citizenship by operation of law.

They plan to do so by making amendments to Section 1(b) and (c) of the Federal Constitution which will give meaning to the 2001 amendment to Article 8(2) which includes the term "gender" as a basis for non-discrimination, and this will align with Malaysia's international commitments.

JAG would like to reiterate that this amendment is urgent as it would alleviate the hardship and struggles of Malaysian mothers and their children.

It would provide children equal access to fundamental rights, prevent forced family separation, and ensure stability for Malaysian mothers, particularly single mothers, and those in toxic marriages. Most importantly, it will provide Malaysian women with the protection and safeguards they need.

The amendment must address the rights of Malaysian women, rectify any gender disparities, and ensure that Malaysian women enjoy the same rights and privileges as Malaysian men, particularly given the historical context of this issue spanning over 60 years.

Thus far, the home minister has been efficient in approving the citizenship applications for some mothers and their children under Article 15(2).

These approvals have brought much relief to these families; some of whom were in precarious situations due to challenges brought on by lack of citizenship for their children. Nevertheless, many more mothers still await results on the pending citizenship applications of their overseas-born children.

Violation of promises

However, we are very disappointed that the government has thought it fit to bundle this progressive step with several regressive amendments which will exacerbate statelessness in the country and is in complete violation of all their promises towards a just and reformist Madani government.

One of the proposed regressive amendments relates to Article 15(1) of the Federal Constitution where there is an intention to replace the “date of the marriage” with the “date of obtaining citizenship”.

This could result in the loss of citizenship for foreign wives. If, for example, a Malaysian man's marriage ends within two years of his wife obtaining Malaysian citizenship, the foreign spouse's citizenship will be rescinded.

This creates a situation where genuinely married wives become stateless, as they may have had to surrender their foreign citizenship before receiving Malaysian citizenship.

Non-citizen wives should not face the penalty of revocation of Malaysian citizenship if the marriage dissolves due to irreconcilable differences or abuse.

Further, the existing waiting periods for Permanent Resident applications - a prerequisite to citizenship of foreign spouses married to Malaysian men under Article 15(1), are unreasonably long, with no guarantee of approval nor clear reasons for rejections.

The number of non-citizen spouses who have successfully obtained MyPR is limited with multitudes facing rejection after many years of waiting. This is incredibly unfair.

Inequality

These regressive amendments have met with severe opposition as they undermine the rights of foundling children and stateless indigenous people, and potentially put the citizenship status of affected stateless individuals at risk as most are born and brought up in Malaysia. These regressive amendments threaten to exacerbate this issue and further perpetuate inequality within our society.

Additionally, the government has not been transparent when presenting the draft of the proposed amendment bill to Family Frontiers, JAG and other civil society organisations (CSOs). The government must provide clarity about whether the amendment would apply retroactively to children born before the passage of the amendments.

The amendment must be retroactive, to include overseas-born children and adult children of Malaysian mothers who remain affected by their inability to obtain Malaysian citizenship.

If these amendments become a reality, the Home Ministry will have sole jurisdiction over the fate of countless stateless persons.

While we are fully aware of and value the important work of the Home Ministry, the time and money saved by approving such cases by operation of law will ease the burden on countless families, many of whom do not have the financial stability to wait years for citizenship approval or rejection.

If the cutoff age is 18 years, there is a significant time constraint that comes into effect.

Forging ahead with the proposed regressive amendments is hypocritical on the humanitarian issue of statelessness, especially since Malaysia is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Where does this regressive approach stand against this government’s reform agenda and promises during the 15th general election?

JAG would like to remind this government about its commitment to the women and children of this country, and its international obligations as well. As a State that has acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw), Malaysia must no longer align itself with gender-discriminatory nationality laws and remove its reservations to Article 9(2) of Cedaw to uphold equality between women and men with respect to the nationality of their children.

The government must decouple the regressive amendments to safeguard the future for all Malaysians, regardless of their gender and social position.

Our government’s responsibility to protect stateless children must not be used as a trade-off for the equal citizenship rights of the overseas-born children of Malaysian mothers.

We stand resolute in our call to only proceed with the amendment to Article 14 and halt the regressive amendments in totality. - Mkini

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JAG is a coalition of 14 civil society organisations in Malaysia.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.