KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said today said that unequal citizenship laws that prevent Malaysian mothers from conferring citizenship upon their children have a direct impact on the sustainable development of the country.
She said affected children are exposed to unequal access to education, healthcare, economic opportunities, social protection, the right to participate in the democratic society, and hindered inheritance, thus effectively outcasting a significant portion of potential human assets.
"Not only children, but we have lost our women too.
"1.86 million Malaysian women are living overseas, citing reasons for citizenship issues as one of the main factors deterring their return to Malaysia.
"This figure represents 12 per cent of the total female population of 15.6 million in Malaysia. This makes Malaysia the country with the second highest regional rate of women migrating with 57 per cent, second only to Thailand, and above the global average of 48 per cent,” she said in a statement this morning.
She also said that "sexist nationality laws" also lead to other human rights violations such as difficulties for a mother to claim child custody or gain access to her children if her marriage ends in separation or divorce and underaged girls being at greater risk of forced marriages as a way to gain legal status.
"As the chair of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Women and Children Affairs and Social Development, our committee is readily able and willing to file a Private Members Bill for a much-needed constitutional amendment.
"However, without an independent, impartial, and well-supported Parliament, I am doubtful of the opportunity for a Bill to be tabled in Parliament to see the light of day,” she added.
She also drew comparisons to the Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) concept introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob by saying that imposing and prolonging unnecessary suffering to families and children taints the spirit of the Malaysian Family.
Besides that, she commented on the Court of Appeal's 2-1 majority decision earlier this month that the overseas-born children of Malaysian mothers cannot automatically be Malaysian citizens, saying that: "[It] has reaffirmed that gender discrimination prevails in our Federal Constitution, thus suggesting that women do not share equal privileges to men in this country when it comes to conferring citizenship to their children."
Court of Appeal judge Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said in his written grounds of judgment disallowing citizenship to children born overseas to Malaysian mothers and foreign fathers, said the word "father” in Section 1(b) of Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution refers to fathers only and is not intended to include mothers.
The appeal by the government, Home Ministry and National Registration Department (NRD) director-general reversed the High Court’s decision declaring that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers who married foreigners are entitled to citizenship by operation of law.
