KUALA LUMPUR, February 18 – Children born abroad to a Malaysian mother married to a foreigner are legally entitled to Malaysian citizenship. According to a joint statement by the Minister of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution and the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, the matter was examined and agreed by the Cabinet meeting on Friday.
According to the statement, the Council of Ministers meeting has examined and agreed with the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution against Part I section 1(1)(d) and Section 1(1) (e) and Part II, Section 1 (b) and Section 1( c) Second Schedule. This is to give citizenship through the force of law to children born abroad to a Malaysian mother who is married to a non-Malaysian partner.
The proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution on this matter is to replace the words ‘his father’ in Part I and Part II of the Second Schedule with the words ‘at least one of his parents. It is to enable mothers of Malaysian citizens to get their fair rights according to the Federal Constitution. The next Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2023 is expected to be tabled in this Parliament session after meeting the requirements of the law,” said the statement.
At the same time, the statement also informed that other amendments related to citizenship, especially Part III, will be studied in more detail. The statement added that the matter will be studied by a committee established under the Ministry of Home Affairs and will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers after the proposed amendment is finalized taking into account the involvement of all interested parties.
It is in line with the Unity Government’s commitment to recognize the equality of women and men, eliminate discrimination against women in Malaysia and overcome the shortcomings of the citizenship provisions that arise. In addition to resolving the backlog of cases for affected women who apply for citizenship for their children through registration that takes too long and is unreasonable and provides a clear interpretation and avoids different interpretations from the courts.
Accordingly, the effect of today’s (yesterday’s) decision is that a child born abroad before or after Malaysia Day where at least one of his parents is a Malaysian citizen is entitled to citizenship through the force of law according to Clause (1) Article 14 of the Federal Constitution said the statement. Therefore, the Legal Affairs Division, the Prime Minister’s Department (BHEUU, JPM) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) express their gratitude to the Unity Government led by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the cabinet.
