KUALA LUMPUR: The right to citizenship of some 30,000 local-born permanent residents (PR) will not be affected by changes to the laws, says Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
He gave an assurance that the group's citizenship issues will be resolved.
"I will be addressing this issue when I wind up debates on the Bill on Thursday (Oct 17).
"I will provide a way out," he told a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday (Oct 16).
ALSO READ: Dewan Rakyat to vote on citizenship Bill on Oct 17, says Home Minister
He said this group of people were born to foreign parents with PR status but without dual citizenship.
He said their parents were either living in Malaya before Independence in 1957 or the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
"They have no entry permits or travel documents from a foreign country.
"Based on records, there are more 30,000 local-born PRs, of whom about 10,000 have applied for citizenship," he said.
He said this differed from the other category of PRs, where either or both parents continue to hold citizenship in their country of origin.
Saifuddin added that the proposed amendments will mean that children born to such PR holders will not automatically get Malaysian citizenship.
He said this was because the child could still obtain citizenship from the country of either parent.
According to Saifuddin, the proposed amendments will ensure that citizenship will only be granted to those who have no other options to avoid a dual citizenship scenario.
ALSO READ: Don't take citizenship rights from kids of parents with PR status, says Muhyiddin
This proposed amendment was among the main criticisms raised by several parties including civil rights groups.
Saifuddin explained that apprehension over the amendments arose as no distinction was made between the two categories of PR holders eligible to apply for citizenship.
The Bill to amend the Federal Constitution was tabled for its first reading on March 25, with the second reading slated two days later.
However, the Dewan Rakyat was adjourned shortly after the second reading by Saifuddin before the Bill was debated and put to a vote.
In the previous parliamentary meeting in July, debate and voting on the Bill were once again deferred until the current meeting in October.
The Bill seeks to amend Part II of the Second Schedule to the Federal Constitution to give Malaysian mothers with foreign spouses the automatic right to confer citizenship on their children born overseas.
Among the amendments are to Clause 2 of Article 15 of the Constitution to lower the age limit for citizenship applications to 18 from 21, in line with the voting age in Malaysia; as well as the definition of "child" as provided in the Child Act 2001 and the age of majority as provided in the Age of Majority Act 1971.
There are several other amendments.
The delay in passing the citizenship law was due to criticism and concerns from several quarters resulting in the Bill being referred to three separate Parliamentary Special Select Committees for further fine-tuning.
Saifuddin earlier told the Dewan Rakyat that the Bill would be put to a vote on Thursday after a motion was earlier passed that Wednesday's proceedings would only be considered complete once the Bill was dealt with and passed by the House.
