KUALA LUMPUR – No child in Malaysia will be denied citizenship moving forward, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
“The term ‘denied citizenship’ for these children must cease. Abandoned children or foundlings discovered without any trace of their parents will be granted citizenship.
“If they are not granted under Section 19B of Part III of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution, the government, through the Home Ministry, will process the citizenship registration of abandoned children under Article 15(A) of the Federal Constitution.
“As long as they apply for citizenship and their application is complete, they will be given citizenship,” he told Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to Mohamad Shafizan Kepli (Batang Lupar), who asked about the status of amendments to the Federal Constitution’s citizenship provisions relating to foundlings.
Saifuddin said that the proposed amendments are still in the engagement stage, during which the government is gathering input from stakeholders and leaders on both sides.
“I have met with Perikatan Nasional leaders, and today I will be meeting with Barisan Nasional leaders to discuss this matter.
“I’m sure it will churn out a positive outcome before being tabled in Parliament soon,” he added.
He said that, from the current engagements, there are two dichotomies regarding the amendment.
“One side says give every child citizenship as long as they are born in Malaysia; another side says citizenship must be granted only if they follow the correct procedure, including marriage registration,” he added.
Earlier, he said that last year, through government initiatives along with the Sarawak government, some 946 citizenship applications involving abandoned children had been approved in the state.
“Some 110,637 people in the state have benefited from the National Registration Department’s Program Menyemai Kasih Rakyat, which issues birth certificates, identification cards, and death certificates,” he added.
Last year, the government proposed eight amendments to citizenship provisions in the Federal Constitution, which included the granting of citizenship to stateless children and foundlings.
The amendment seeks to modify the law that grants citizenship to every stateless person born in the country.
Section 19B of Part III of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution states that any newborn child found exposed in any place shall be presumed to have been born there of a mother permanently resident there, unless it can be shown otherwise.
Via the amendment, the government hopes to solve the citizenship problems plaguing overseas-born children of Malaysian women with foreign husbands. – March 21, 2024