KUALA LUMPUR – Kavita vividly remembers the fateful morning her daughter was born.
Due to pregnancy complications, two doctors forbade her from flying back to Malaysia. In her desperation to fly back home to give birth to her child, she made her way to another doctor to seek a third opinion.
On that same morning, her baby was born prematurely and was placed in the intensive care unit for many weeks.
“Women should not be told to put our lives and our babies’ lives at risk just to board planes and fly back to Malaysia to give birth.
“Our pregnancies should not be trivialised. The home minister must do the right thing and stop fighting Malaysian mothers,” she said in a statement issued by the Association of Family Support and Welfare Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (Family Frontiers) today.
Kavita is one of many Malaysian mothers currently facing trouble applying for citizenship for their overseas-born children.
They are disappointed by the lack of understanding displayed by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin in an RTM TV1 episode of Inklusif yesterday.
During the programme, Hamzah suggested that Malaysian mothers who want their children to have Malaysian citizenship should just give birth in Malaysia.
In a statement, Family Frontiers said Hamzah’s statement ignores the realities that pregnant Malaysian mothers go through overseas.
“There are many reasons why Malaysian women give birth overseas.
“Many in Family Frontiers’ network of Malaysian mothers have medical reasons that prevent them from travelling, including risky pregnancies, fear of miscarriage, and other health-related issues.
“For them, it is a matter of life and death,” it said in a statement.
Another Malaysian mother who shared the same fate as Kavita said she had to give birth overseas due to travel restrictions that were in place and the risk of contracting the virus during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“How was I meant to come home to have my baby during the pandemic? I would have been separated from my husband for years if I had made that choice,” she said.
The group also pointed out that some mothers would also have to be separated from their older children who are non-citizens because they were also born overseas.
Meanwhile, many women had employment commitments directly tied to their duty to serve the country.
“I worked for a Malaysian government-linked company in San Francisco between 2013 and 2018 when I had my child there.
“I had a high-risk pregnancy and was advised not to travel in my third trimester, so I had my child there.
“I feel betrayed by the home minister’s comments – I served my country at the time of my child’s birth, yet my child is not a citizen and I don't know what the future holds for her now that we are back in Malaysia,” said Gaithiri, another Malaysian mother seeking citizenship for her daughter.
Another mother in the Family Frontiers network said she was hurt by Hamzah’s statement emphasising that Malaysian citizenship is the highest award from the country, and therefore “cannot be easily given to just anybody”.
“They are not just anybody, they are our children. They have Malaysian heritage and blood.
“Why punish my innocent children?” she asked.
In addition, Family Frontiers also slammed Hamzah for failing to explain why Malaysian fathers can automatically pass on citizenship to their children born overseas, while mothers cannot.
“Hamzah reiterated that dual citizenship was a reason Malaysian women are not given the right to confer citizenship to their children by operation of law.
“Family Frontiers emphasises once again that the dual citizenship argument is not applied to Malaysian men when their children are born abroad. As such, the dual citizenship argument must not be used as an excuse to perpetuate discrimination against women,” it said.
The group said children born overseas to Malaysian women are also left with no choice but to obtain the foreign father’s citizenship.
“An emergency travel certificate (surat perakuan cemas) is also not a readily available option for these children to immediately return to Malaysia (without relying on a foreign passport).
“In such situations, mothers have no choice but to allow the child to take on their father’s citizenship. Once that happens, it is held against the child when applying for Malaysian citizenship.
“If the child does not take on the father’s citizenship, the child risks being stateless in a foreign country.”
On September 23, Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said the cabinet will discuss the matter of citizenship for children born abroad, as well as seek advice from the attorney-general on the next course of action.
Saifuddin said the government takes the issue seriously, as it involves discrimination and human rights.
Malaysia is one of 25 countries that do not give mothers and fathers equal rights when it comes to passing on citizenship to their children. The constitution grants Malaysian fathers the automatic right to confer citizenship on their children born overseas, but not Malaysian mothers.
On September 22, Hamzah said the government is expected to amend the federal constitution by making a proposal to the Conference of Rulers with regard to the issue involving the citizenship of children born overseas to Malaysian mothers.
The Larut MP told the Dewan Rakyat that any major changes must be brought before the Malay rulers if the government is going to draft amendments to the constitution.
On September 9, the high court ruled that Malaysian mothers have the right to confer citizenship on their children born overseas, on an equal basis with Malaysian men.
The court ruled that Article 14(1)(b) of the constitution, together with the Second Schedule, Part II, Section 1(b) pertaining to citizenship rights, must be read in harmony with Article 8(2), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.
Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir said the word “father” must be read to include mothers, and that their children are entitled to citizenship by operation of law.
“The grievances of the plaintiffs are real…the discrimination is apparent.”
However, the government then appealed against the decision, triggering an outcry. – The Vibes, October 12, 2021
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