SUHAKAM has urged the Government to seriously reconsider the removal of automatic rights to citizenship of children born within Malaysia to permanent citizens.
It said the citizenship rights that have been entrenched in the Federal Constitution through the wisdom of our forefathers should not be taken away by any amendment to the Constitution.
"Suhakam would like to reiterate its stance that any amendment to the Federal Constitution on citizenship rights should be in the spirit of enhancing these rights and not directed toward taking away or diluting these rights.
"It remains our concern that the removal of the right to automatic citizenship of children born to permanent citizens would only exacerbate the problem of statelessness," the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said in a statement.
Suhakam also said it was alarmed over a Member of Parliament’s remark on the exemption of Sabah from provisions of proposed amendments to citizenship clauses.
It said Article 161E(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution requires the concurrence of the states of Sabah
and Sarawak for the amendment of citizenship clauses.
"The abrupt development signalled the disarray of the government in the preparation of this bill,".
"Despite the applaudable move in the bill to extend equal rights to Malaysian women to pass down citizenship to their children born overseas, we would like to emphasise on the application of retrospective effect for the benefit of children born after September 2001,".
Suhakam urged the Government and Parliamentarians to continue holding meaningful consultations and pragmatic engagements with all relevant stakeholders including stateless children and affected communities in addressing the causes of statelessness and the impediment to the registration of documents.
It said the current state of statelessness in Malaysia did not happen in a vacuum nor was it accidental.
"It reflects and exposes the perpetual creation of statelessness in our public service delivery for decades.
"It is clear that an overhaul reform is necessitated with urgency and good faith to fix the broken system," added Suhakam.
While Suhakam appreciates the piecemeal initiatives and various efforts demonstrated recently by the Ministry of Home Affairs in expediting citizenship application and registration of birth and marriage within the marginalised community, it said there must be legal and administrative safeguards to avoid any individual falling through the crack of the a system that renders them stateless or undocumented.
Suhakam calls upon Members of Parliament and Senators from both Houses to set the parameters in the upcoming Parliamentary debate.
"They must get categorical assurance from the government in their administrative and legislative reform to not only end statelessness but deliver a clear, transparent and inclusive pathway towards citizenship for prospective nationals," it added. - October 7, 2024
