By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, March 25: The Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) stressed that the only amendment to the Federal Constitution on citizenship laws that should be passed is the one that gives Malaysian mothers who married foreigners and gave birth overseas the same rights as Malaysian men.
“This was the issue which required a change to the constitution to ensure gender equality was not compromised.
“The other amendments have all been add-ons whose adverse impacts have not been fully considered,” said SWWS president Dr Angie Garet in a statement.
At the same time, while praising the federal government’s decision to withdraw two of the proposed changes to the Constitution, she also expressed concern that other ‘regressive’ amendments remain.
For this, she called on Sarawak MPs to request a decoupling of the remaining ‘regressive’ amendments on the amendment Bill to the Federal Constitution on citizenship laws and to allow more time for research and consideration.
These ‘regressive’ amendments, according to the Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance (MCRA), refer to elements such as removing the right to Malaysian citizenship for children born to permanent residents in Malaysia and lowering the citizenship application age limit from 21 to 18.
She stressed that children born to natives of Sarawak and Sabah, whose parents were issued a red identity card (non-citizen) rather than a blue IC (citizen) for a variety of reasons, could be most affected by the proposed amendments.
“If the changes go through, these children will now have difficulty receiving health care, attending school and, when of age, employment,” she added.
Last Friday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Putrajaya decided to drop two proposed amendments involving Article 19B and Section 1(e) Part 2 of Schedule 2 of the Federal Constitution.
These amendments would have deprived foundlings and stateless children of automatic citizenship and would see them needing to register for it instead.
Section 19B, Part III states that foundlings are given automatic citizenship by operation of law, giving them the benefit of the doubt as to the date and place of their birth, as their biological parents’ status is unknown and unverified.
Section 1(e), Part II states that citizenship is given to vulnerable and affected people, such as children born out of wedlock, adopted and abandoned stateless children, and indigenous communities. — DayakDaily
