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KUALA LUMPUR – Yet another tale of a Malaysian mother struggling to obtain citizenship papers for her child born overseas has surfaced, with apparently no answers from the National Registration Department (NRD) for the past six years.
Alison Wee, through a video posted on the Family Frontiers’ (FF) Facebook page, pressed on the NRD for answers as to why her daughter, now aged six and whose identity is being withheld, is still not recognised as a Malaysian.
The mother, through the video, claimed that she had gone to register the birth of her child at the Malaysian consulate-general in Naning, China, where she was working as a lecturer and researcher.
“That was submitted in 2016, and now it’s 2022, and she still hasn’t gotten her Malaysian citizenship yet.
“I was in China because I was teaching at a university and was doing good research, and I thought I was making my country proud,” Wee said in the video.
She added that an additional application was submitted to the NRD in March this year.
It cited the high court’s decision that Malaysian mothers have the right to confer citizenship to their children born overseas, on an equal basis with Malaysian men.
However, the federal government has since sought leave to challenge the ruling, with the Court of Appeal set to decide next month if the government should be allowed to appeal against the landmark decision.
“Even with that court order, the process is still taking so long and we are hanging on a line. We are really not sure if my daughter can get her citizenship.
I appeal to the government. Where are our documents? I am a child of Malaysia; my daughter is also a child of Malaysia,” she said.
Campaign for government to comply with high court ruling
Speaking to The Vibes, an FF spokesman explained that Wee gave birth to her daughter prematurely in China in 2016, despite having planned for the delivery to take place in Malaysia.
“Alison had planned to return to Malaysia to have her child. In fact, she had two prenatal check-ups in Malaysia. However, due to complications in her pregnancy, she gave birth prematurely overseas,” they said.
The spokesman said that NRD had also failed to provide adequate reasoning as to why Wee’s application has yet to be approved.
“No justification, only that the application is still under process,” she said, adding that NRD had also never mentioned if the submitted documents were incomplete.
It was explained that while waiting for NRD’s approval, Wee was then forced to register her child under the citizenship of her father, a non-Malaysian.
However, both mother and daughter are living in Malaysia now, and the mother wants her child to obtain the same Malaysian legal status as she has herself,” the spokesman said.
The NGO then questioned the government’s unwillingness to adhere to the court order favouring mothers with children born overseas.
She said that the apparent hesitation has led FF to launch their own #ManaDokumenKami (#WhereAreOurDocuments) campaign.
“There is clearly a lack of procedural clarity and consistency among NRD branches and Malaysian embassies or high commissions abroad.
“That is why FF launched the #ManaDokumenKami campaign that strongly urges the government to comply with the high court order and issue citizenship documents to all overseas-born children of Malaysian mothers,” she said.
Explaining further, she said that only six mothers have been successful in obtaining the citizenship documents for their children so far since the court ruling.
Lawmakers Charles Santiago and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman have since chimed in, sympathising with Wee’s predicament.
“Being a parent of a stateless child is scary and frustrating, knowing that the law will not protect your child. And, worst of all, not knowing how long it will take for your child to be granted citizenship,” Santiago wrote on his Facebook account.
Syed Saddiq, through a tweet, urged the government to follow the court order and act fast in processing applications like Wee’s.
Listen to the mother’s plea.
— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) May 22, 2022
Her daughter was born overseas, prematurely, because she was not able to travel home in time.
Why is it that a child of Malaysia still has not received her citizenship despite there already being a precedent?@FamilyFrontiers #manadokumenkami pic.twitter.com/OosEjQNFRd
“I hope and wish for a sound judgement by the Court of Appeal regarding this matter. Mothers should have equal rights to their child’s citizenship,” he tweeted. – The Vibes, May 24, 2022
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