BOMBSHELL – CHILD-ABUSING MALAYSIA? WHAT TYPE OF MADANI GOVT IS THIS! – ‘LESS THAN 5% OF 10,105 CITIZENSHIP APPLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN APPROVED’ – ‘TIN KOSONG’ ANWAR HAD BETTER GRILL HIS HOME MINISTER IMMEDIATELY & FIND OUT WHAT THE ‘FOREVER CONFUSED’ SAIFUDDIN NASUTION HAS BEEN DOING OR NOT DOING – SURELY MALAYSIA THE ONLY MUSLIM-MAJORITY NATION TO PRACTISE SUCH DISCRIMINATORY LAW TO PUNISH CHILDREN? – ‘THIS POLICY, MAINTAINED BY THE CURRENT & PREVIOUS GOVTS, IS A BRUTAL POLICY WHICH PUNISHES THESE CHILDREN, CONDEMNING THEM TO A LIFE IN LIMBO’ – TIN KOSONG SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF & HIS TEAM! THERE CAN BE NO EXCUSE FOR SUCH CRUELTY & PETTY RACISM – TO THE EXTENT THAT EVEN KIDS ARE NOT SPARED!
The Home Ministry has approved less than five percent of 10,105 citizenship applications filed between 2019 and 2022 for children born out of wedlock and adopted stateless children, granted under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution.
Specifically, the 242 recipients comprise children born to a foreign mother whose marriage to a Malaysian father was only registered after she had given birth in Malaysia; as well as stateless children who have been legally adopted and whose birth parents are unknown.
In the first category, 33 citizenships were granted to children born out of wedlock, from a total of 5,094 applications received.
Another 189 citizenships were also issued out of 5,011 applications for adopted stateless children, according to Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s written response in Parliament.
He was responding to Cha Kee Chin (Harapan-Rasah) who inquired on the number of approvals for the two specific categories in the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Meanwhile, groups advocating for reforms in citizenship issues questioned the government’s existing procedures which led to a high number of applications and low approvals.
Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas (DHRRA) Malaysia director for social protection, Maalini Ramalo, said the number of children born out of wedlock to a Malaysian father is linked to Section 17 of Part III of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
“The section provides that ‘father’ for the purposes of Part III of the Federal Constitution which governs the acquisition of citizenship, in relation to a person born out of wedlock, refers to the child’s mother.
“This then leads to children born to a foreign mother not being able to access citizenship through their Malaysian father,” she said, pointing out how Malaysia ranked as one of only three countries worldwide that does not allow a father to pass on citizenship to their children born out of wedlock.
“It’s perplexing how Malaysia has not found a way to come around even though all Muslim or Muslim majority countries have not practised such discriminatory law to punish the children,” she stressed.
In the cases of adopted stateless children, Maalini said many grew up being denied their rights to automatic citizenship under the Federal Constitution, and were instead subjected to lengthy court processes.
“In accordance with Adoption Act 1952 Section 9 (1), the adopted child’s legal position in nationality law is identical to the position of the biological child.
“The constitution recognises that a child born within the country is a Malaysian citizen if either parent is a citizen or permanent resident of Malaysia,” she said.
“Hence, if they have been lawfully adopted and have the provision to apply for citizenship, then there should not be any reason to deny them their rights,” added Maalini.
Meanwhile, Lawyers for Liberty executive director Zaid Malek said the approval numbers showcased a shocking failure of successive governments in dealing with the issue of statelessness.
“The fact that only a small fraction of the applications was approved shows a cruel and utter indifference to children who have to suffer from being stateless their entire lives as a result.
“This policy, maintained by the current and previous governments, is a brutal policy which punishes these children, condemning them to a life in limbo,” said Zaid, who noted that the pending citizenship applications would also comprise cases currently represented by LFL.
Beyond the Federal Constitution, he argued further delays or denials of citizenship for children in such cases also went against Malaysia’s international obligation under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“The current government must remedy it immediately and correct this mistake to bring an end to this cruelty,” he stressed.
Yesterday, Saifuddin reportedly said the Home Ministry has so far received 150,000 citizenship applications comprising both stateless adults and children, of which 5,700 applications were processed for a decision.
He also said the ministry has set a target to process at least 10,000 citizenship applications this year.
MKINI
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