KUALA LUMPUR – The home minister’s statement that the federal government has the sole and exclusive right to grant citizenship is patently false and threatens the citizenship rights of Malaysians, said Lawyers for Liberty (LFL).
In a statement today, LFL director Zaid Malek who trained his guns on Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s statement on Sunday, opined that the latter’s statement is nothing short of an attempt to usurp the rights guaranteed to Malaysians under the federal constitution.
Zaid also claimed that Saifuddin’s statement is the reason why the National Registration Department (NRD) refuses to comply with the law involving stateless Malaysians born in this country.
“There are tens of thousands of cases where citizens as of right under the constitution are denied citizenship despite falling squarely within the criteria listed under Part I and Part II of the Second Schedule of the constitution,” he said.
Additionally, Zaid also expressed further concern with the proposed amendments by the federal government on citizenship laws to restrict the citizenship qualifications, despite the massive outcry against it.
“These amendments will remove key protections under Part II and Part III of the federal constitution, which would dash any hope of those who are currently stateless in getting their citizenship recognised, as well as creating a new generation of stateless individuals,” he added.
Last Sunday, Saifuddin stated that the federal government has the exclusive authority to issue citizenship and couldn’t be given arbitrarily.
According to him, the government has made the amendments to Part III of the federal constitution regarding citizenship which is set to be proposed to the Conference of Rulers this month.
Additionally, he also said the Home Ministry is also considering over 9,000 citizenship applications for approval as of last month. – October 4, 2023