Home minister: Rulers wanted tighter citizenship conditions; Bill not about denying humanitarian aspect

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — The Conference of Rulers had wanted tighter conditions for the awarding of Malaysian citizenship, and the Malaysian government had sought to balance both humanitarian and national security concerns in its Bill to propose changes to citizenship laws in the Federal Constitution, the home minister said today.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said this while giving additional information in Parliament about the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 — a Bill containing the proposed citizenship amendments — including some proposed provisions that civil society said should be revised to protect children from statelessness or to ensure their pathways to Malaysian citizenship.

In his speech while tabling the Bill for the second reading, Saifuddin Nasution said the Bill’s origins could be traced back to the government’s response towards a court case filed by Malaysian mothers who wanted their overseas-born children to be entitled to automatic Malaysian citizenship. (The Malaysian mothers had wanted their children to enjoy the same right to automatic citizenship, which Malaysian fathers’ overseas-born children currently already enjoy.)

Following the High Court ruling in favour of these Malaysian mothers and the Court of Appeal subsequently ruling in favour of the government, Saifuddin Nasution the government understood that a law is not something that is static but is “dynamic and should take into account the interests of all”.

He said a proposal paper was then presented to Cabinet for a policy decision to be made for the purposes of amending the Federal Constitution, and that a Cabinet committee chaired by him was then set up, adding that the Cabinet then had to get the Conference of Rulers’ assent and agreement from both the Sabah and Sarawak governments in line with the Federal Constitution.

“All those processes were carried out. The Conference of Rulers agreed with this proposal when the first presentation was made and also recommended that a complete and comprehensive study be carried out by the Home Ministry.

“The awarding of Malaysian citizenship status is the highest award provided for clearly by the country’s highest law which is the Federal Constitution.

“Therefore, the Conference of Rulers expressed for elements of control in the Federal Constitution amendment regarding citizenship,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat, adding that a technical committee was formed to carry out studies such as comparing laws from abroad and carrying out engagement sessions with stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations, academics, those in the legal field and members of Parliament.

He said Malaysia currently has 848 Acts of Parliament and the government has to look at all existing laws when amending the Federal Constitution, adding that the government’s Bill for citizenship amendments in the Federal Constitution will also involve amendments to related existing federal laws (such as the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act; legitimacy, immigration, passport, registration of births and deaths, laws) and Citizenship Rules 1964; as well as Sabah’s and Sarawak’s laws on registration of births and deaths as well as adoption; and also state enactments on Islamic family law.

He said Malaysia had also looked at the good practices in other countries, and that the government had completed the process and subsequently brought the matter to the Conference of Rulers on February 21 and 22 this year.

He added that the Conference of Rulers then gave its assent to the government’s Bill, and that the rulers’ assent was given with the expressed wish “for the awarding of citizenship status needing to come with tighter and responsible conditions”.

The minister then said the government’s Bill on the proposed citizenship amendments was made with the intention to “improve the method of awarding citizenship status, not to deny humanitarian rights at all”, adding that this was because there was a need to be “more careful” in carrying out the amendments as the country’s security situation and challenges also have to be considered.

“While we want to take care of the humanitarian aspect and preserve the welfare of the people and the country from any external security threats — which if not administered efficiently, tightly and prudently, it can paralyse the country’s administration system,” he said.

He said the assessment and balancing of both security and humanitarian aspects were made on several proposed citizenship amendments, especially those involving children.

“The existence of this dichotomy matches the Home Ministry’s objective to maintain peace, national security, eliminate all forms of threats with elements of subversive, extremist, espionage, sabotage, violence, terrorism and subsequently ensuring the harmony of Malaysians,” the minister said.

Saifuddin Nasution went on to say that Malaysia — as a state party to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) — “had never denied the awarding of citizenship to abandoned children in this country”, and said such foundlings still have a pathway to acquire citizenship.

He gave the commitment of clearing off a backlog of 14,000 citizenship applications under the Federal Constitution’s Article 15A — relied on by those such as foundlings, children born out of wedlock to Malaysian fathers, adopted children — by year-end.

Among other things, the minister also explained the Bill intends to no longer allow permanent residents’ children born in Malaysia to be entitled to Malaysian citizenship automatically, giving an estimate of 3.5 million foreigners in the country as a reason why this proposed amendment can no longer be delayed. He also asserted that such children would not become stateless as he said they could take on their parents’ citizenship.

But the Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance (MCRA) had these few days highlighted that those with permanent resident status in Malaysia are not necessarily foreigners, and that three categories of permanent residents who are stateless would see their children being negatively affected by the government’s proposed amendment.

MCRA had stated these three categories to be: 1. children born to stateless Orang Asli and Orang Asal parents (who until today only have PR status and have not been recognised as Malaysians); 2. children born to third-generation ethnic Indians and ethnic Chinese in Peninsular Malaysia (who have for generations only been given PR status and are still stateless); and 3. children born to an adopted stateless child (namely a stateless person who was adopted as a child and is now an adult parent but is still stateless and only has PR status).

The Bill was not debated on or voted on today, as the Dewan Rakyat’s current meeting had concluded today. The next two Dewan Rakyat meetings this year are scheduled to be held from June 24 to July 18; and October 7 to December 5.

Read here for Malay Mail’s summary of some of the key amendments that the government is proposing via the newly-tabled Bill known as the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024:

The full government Bill can be found here.