KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — The Malaysian government should take steps to change the country’s current laws which discriminate Malaysian women by not allowing their children born abroad to foreign spouses to automatically be considered Malaysian citizens, as compared to Malaysian men who can pass on their nationality to their children in the same situation, Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah said today.
Maria criticised the government’s refusal to update Malaysia’s laws to allow Malaysian women to share the same rights as Malaysian men to confer Malaysian citizenship on their own children when born to a non-Malaysian spouse.
Maria highlighted Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed Said’s statement today in the Dewan Rakyat which maintained the government’s refusal to bring Malaysian laws in line with two international treaties ratified by Malaysia.
Maria went on to say that his remark on the government’s position to disallow Malaysian women — who are married to foreigners — the right to confer Malaysian citizenship to their own children was an “ill-thought out comment” that reflected ignorance and insensitivity towards the status of Malaysian women and children.
“His statement reaffirms the inequality that exists in our nationality laws with gender-discriminatory provisions that deny women with the same rights as men to pass nationality to a non-citizen spouse and to their children by birth,” Maria said in a statement today.
Beyond having their children born to foreign spouses denied automatic Malaysian citizenship, Maria pointed out that Malaysian women also receive unequal treatment under the law when it comes to how soon their foreign spouses can apply to be Malaysians.
“The Federal Constitution allows foreign spouses of Malaysian men citizenship by registration, if they fulfil several criteria, including residing in Malaysia for two years. However, foreign spouses of Malaysian women can only apply for citizenship by naturalisation, after residing in Malaysia for 10 years,” she said.
“The inequalities in our laws are stark and it is time to amend our laws to eliminate discrimination and heartbreak in families. In a democracy based on rule of law, all citizens must be treated as equal before the law and, thus, be given equal right to confer nationality on their children and spouses, regardless of gender,” she added.
Maria said that gender discrimination in nationality laws causes hardship and violation of rights for affected families including “obstacles in accessing education, healthcare, employment, family unity, freedom of movement, inheritance and property rights”, pointing out that research had shown that such gender discrimination in nationality laws is also a primary cause of statelessness and is linked with gender-based violence.
“In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, gender discrimination in nationality laws is exacerbating the vulnerability of affected families,” she said.
Maria said Malaysia’s discriminatory nationality law conflicts with two international treaties ratified by Malaysia, namely the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
The current position
Earlier today, Sekijang MP Natrah Ismail asked the Home Ministry to state if the government plans to implement the UN Cedaw committee’s recommendation to ensure women receive equal rights as men, especially when it comes to the right to confer citizenship on children born abroad to a non-citizen spouse.
Ismail then responded by saying that the Malaysian government has decided to maintain its reservations to Cedaw’s Article 9(2). Under Article 9(2), countries who sign on or ratify Cedaw are required to “grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children”.
A reservation of international treaties means that a country is declaring that it will not follow parts or certain provisions of an international treaty which it had agreed to.
Ismail further cited national security concerns as a reason for the Malaysian government’s decision not to change the nationality laws, asserting that this was to prevent dual citizenship as a child born to a foreign father would also have claim to the father’s nationality.
What should the government do?
Maria however questioned the “excuse” of national security, pointing out genuine and valid situations where Malaysian women would want to return or settle down in Malaysia with their children born to foreign spouses but would be facing heartbreak due to the discrimination in nationality laws.
“I believe that there are many instances why Malaysian women want to settle in Malaysia with their foreign spouses, such as they decide to remain in Malaysia to raise their children; the husband managed to get a permanent job in Malaysia and decides to establish their roots in Malaysia; or those who have been overseas and decided to come back to Malaysia to settle down with their children.
“And many more circumstances but how in, anyway, do these cases be a threat to national security in our country?
“The Deputy Minister must not hide behind national security as an excuse to discriminate against women but be bold to take the necessary steps to bring about equality and non-discrimination,” she said.
“I urge Deputy Minister Ismail Mohamed Said to withdraw his statement and to take a step further to make amends by proposing amendments to the nationality laws in Malaysia so that we can have happy families and children with their rightful citizenship,” she added.
In the same statement today, Maria pointed out to Ismail that the then home minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had in 2010 announced that Malaysian mothers have the same rights as Malaysian fathers to pass on their citizenship to their children born overseas, but said that such government announcements are as usual made without any formal ruling or follow-up to implement the policy.
“The inaction and unhelpful sweeping statements made by the cabinet members, though at different times, have resulted in stress, anxiety and heartbreaking experiences for women, families and also painfully for the children,” she said.
In September 2019, Hannah Yeoh who was then the deputy women, family and community development minister said the ministry had written to the Home Ministry and Foreign Ministry to ask for an amendment to the Federal Constitution to allow Malaysian mothers to have their children born abroad automatically recorded as Malaysian citizens, and that the three ministries had been meeting since April 2019 to discuss the matter.