PETALING JAYA: The provisions in the long-awaited Bill to amend citizenship laws should be decoupled and voted on in parts once it is brought before Parliament, say civil society groups and advocates.
“In light of the urgency and complexity of this issue, should the Bill continue to be tabled, we request that the government decouple the Bill and vote on its provisions in parts, ensuring that each section is thoroughly scrutinised. All safeguards should be fully discussed, and risks presented transparently before any debate in Parliament takes place,” they said in a statement on Wednesday (Oct 9).
"We, civil society organisations, activists, subject experts, and impacted individuals, express our grave concern over the upcoming Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 – specifically the provisions relating to citizenship – that is set to be debated in Parliament.
"With just four days remaining before the Dewan Rakyat sitting begins, we have yet to receive any updates or refinements to the Bill as announced by the Home Minister (Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail) in July 2024.
“This lack of transparency and communication is deeply troubling and contrary to the Madani government’s promise of a more inclusive and transparent democracy.
“We have previously highlighted that the Bill, in its current form, contains critical flaws that, if not addressed, will have far-reaching consequences for vulnerable communities across Malaysia, particularly the indigenous communities of Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia,” they added.
In a joint statement signed by over 200 signatories, they called on Saifuddin to disclose full details of how these critical flaws will be addressed and the exact refinements that will be made to the Bill.
They also emphasised that stakeholders must be given sufficient time to study the proposed amendments.
“The Bill should not move forward in its current form, as it combines several regressive amendments with a positive amendment addressing the rights of Malaysian mothers. While the Bill contains a positive provision — allowing Malaysian mothers to automatically confer citizenship to their children born overseas — this is the only progressive amendment,” they said.
However, this amendment does not have retroactive application, meaning that current overseas-born children (including those over 21 years old) of Malaysian mothers will continue to be discriminated against, as they will still not have an automatic right to citizenship.
The Bill also includes three regressive constitutional amendments that will negatively impact the children of permanent residents (PR), citizenship applications of stateless children above the age of 18 and foreign spouses of Malaysian men.
“To address the potential increase in statelessness caused by these amendments, we call for safeguards to be introduced in the Bill so that constitutional guarantees, which have existed since the formation of the Federation, are not eroded.
“We remind MPs that although points raised during parliamentary debates are recorded in the Hansard, they do not bind ministers or the government to specific policies or laws. Therefore, it is crucial that all safeguards are explicitly included in the Bill itself, ensuring no ambiguity or risk of future misinterpretation,” they added.
They urged the government to act in the best interests of the people and not assume that “only it knows best'.
“On matters involving fundamental rights and freedoms, all stakeholders must be meaningfully consulted.
"We call on the Home Minister to withdraw the amendments related to the denial of automatic citizenship to children of Malaysian permanent residents (Section 1(a)) and ensure that the amendment for Malaysian mothers is made retroactive.”
Additionally, necessary safeguards must be included to protect those at risk of statelessness due to these constitutional changes.
All Ministers and MPs have been given copies of a matrix prepared by civil society organisations (CSOs) in consultation and collaboration with academics, legal experts, and representatives from different states, including Sabah and Sarawak.
This matrix provides a middle ground to address the government’s stated concerns on national security issues while safeguarding the citizenship rights of those whose rights risk being abused by successive governments,” it added.
The Bill to amend the Federal Constitution was supposed to be tabled for a second reading by March 27, which was the last day of the previous Dewan Rakyat meeting.
However, after the Home Minister delivered his speech, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul presented his closing speech and adjourned the meeting without putting the Bill forward for debate. The Bill was tabled for the first reading on March 25.
Although the Bill on constitutional amendments to citizenship laws was on the order paper in the previous Dewan Rakyat meeting, which concluded in July after being in session for 15 days, it was not presented for debate and subsequently did not proceed to the second and third readings.
In fact, it was one of the four Bills postponed to the next meeting of the House, which will begin on Oct 14.
