PUTRAJAYA, Feb 21 — The Association of Family Support and Welfare Selangor & Kuala Lumpur (Family Frontiers) today claimed there was a “lack of procedural clarity” in the process of acquiring citizenship certificates for children born overseas to Malaysian mothers and foreign spouses.
This comes after the first three of these children were given their Malaysian citizenship certificates at the National Registration Department (NRD) headquarters here today, following the September 9 decision by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur that all such children should be automatically conferred Malaysian citizenship.
To note, the three children who received their citizenship certificates today were born to three mothers who were plaintiffs in the landmark case, which was filed by Family Frontiers president Suriani Kempe and six others in December 2020.
“However, feedback that Family Frontiers has received in the ensuing months from mothers who went to submit their documents demonstrates that there is a lack of procedural clarity among NRD branches and embassies or high commissions,” said the association in a statement today.
“While we appreciate the government’s quick action for the three out of six plaintiffs, we would like to remind the government that the High Court order applies to all Malaysian mothers and their children facing similar obstacles.
“Some mothers were given a list of different requirements and varying instructions when submitting their documents. It seems that some embassies and high commissions did not even receive instructions from Putrajaya.”
Family Frontiers then called for clear guidelines to standardise the confirmation of citizenship for the children involved, and to ensure that Malaysian mothers “do not have to jump through additional bureaucratic hoops that Malaysian fathers have never had to”.
Today, several mothers whose children are yet to receive their citizenship certificates were also present at the NRD headquarters in conjunction with a press conference regarding the first three certificates to be issued.
“When I asked the NRD officers why my childrens’ certificates were not ready yet, the NRD officers told me: ‘We do not know, we do not have an answer’,” said Priscilla Collar, a Malaysian mother of Portuguese descent from Melaka, when speaking to Malay Mail.
Collar, a single mother, said she was not given a deadline for when the certification will be complete for her daughters, aged 12 and 10, who were born in France.
She said she submitted her documents on December 31 last year, which is two days after those who received their certificates today.
“Number one (after getting the certificates), I want to put them into government schools. Right now, I have to put them in private institutions and that is an unnecessarily high cost for me,” said the 36-year-old working in hotel management.
Meanwhile, in its statement today, Family Frontiers also urged the government to immediately withdraw its appeal against the September 9 High Court judgment, which is due to be heard on March 23.
“This latest development shows that it is possible for the government to implement the High Court judgment without further delay
“Children are yet to be enrolled into public schools and mothers are faced with high uncertainty and left in limbo while having to rush back and forth to relevant departments for student visas and school placement confirmation.
“Overseas, children are awaiting to return to their tanah air with their Malaysian mothers after over two years of the pandemic,” it said.
