KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Tan Sri Nazir Razak has joined in opposing the proposed constitutional amendment on the citizenship of foundlings which would require registration before they are one year of age, saying that the proposed amendment goes against what Malaysia’s founding fathers intended.
The two amendments — citizenship for overseas-born children of Malaysian mothers with foreign spouses and registration of foundlings — should be decoupled and be voted on separately in Parliament, he said.
“The proposed amendments [for foundlings] will place discretion with the home ministry to determine the status of stateless children. How unjust it would be to deny foundlings their citizenship rights as intended by our founding fathers?
“The two key elements of the amendment should be decoupled and voted on separately,” he said in an Instagram post here.
The son of the second prime minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, further commented that children should not be punished for the irresponsibility of parents or circumstances.
“Babies don’t travel on their own across borders. Children are completely helpless and can’t register themselves. Why do they deserve to face a life in stateless limbo because of the irresponsibility of their parents or circumstances they came from?
“Furthermore, without birth documents and unknown biological parents, how will they prove their parentage?” Nazir asked.
The former CIMB Group chairman expressed his disapproval towards the proposed amendments after watching the film Abang Adik which revolves around the torment stateless children face trying to obtain citizenship.
Last week, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that the two citizenship amendments will be tabled in parliament soon.
Since the announcement, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and many rights groups, have been opposing the amendment citing it as regressive.
