KUALA LUMPUR – Family rights group Family Frontiers has filed for leave at the Federal Court to appeal the appellate court’s decision that citizenship cannot automatically be granted to children born overseas to Malaysian mothers with foreign spouses.
The group’s president Suriani Kempe said they also hope Putrajaya will amend the federal constitution to grant Malaysian mothers this right automatically.
“We hope the federal government will show political will and determination to give women the right to confer citizenship to their children born abroad,” she said at a press conference today.
Family Frontier’s appeal to the Federal Court will be represented by lawyer Datuk Gurdial Singh Nijar, who told the same press conference that his clients are deeply disappointed as Putrajaya had appeared to show support for Malaysian mothers but in the end, failed to follow through.
“There is a basis in law for the government to follow through (as proven by previous judges in the high court previously who ruled in favour of Family Frontiers), and allow for their citizenship rights to be recognised and for agencies to issue relevant documents.
“However, they (government) have chosen a different pathway,” he said.
Gurdial added that two government ministries had initiated meetings with Family Frontiers, which had made them hopeful of a favourable outcome.
However, from these meetings where they were told the “same old stories of need to study further”, Family Frontiers concluded that there is a clear lack of political will to follow the matter through.
“Perpetuating this for one day is a day too long for these children. Some of them have waited for ten years. This is tragic, especially since the government is promoting ‘Keluarga Malaysia’, yet has cast away and turned a blind eye to the plight of these children,” he added.
The group is filing the appeal after the Court of Appeal’s decision on August 5, in which the appellate judge Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said in his written grounds of judgment stated that the word “father” in Section 1(b) of Part II of the Second Schedule of the federal constitution referred to only the father and is not intended to include the mother. rt
Family Frontiers and six mothers as plaintiffs had initially won their case at the high court.
Suriani today invited members of the public to show their support to affected mothers and children by gathering for an awareness event organised by the group at Taman Jaya in Petaling Jaya around 5pm tomorrow. – The Vibes, August 27, 2022.
