The Court of Appeal said that Azimah still had the alternative option of pursuing Malaysian citizenship by way of naturalisation under Article 19 of the Federal Constitution. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — The Court of Appeal today unanimously decided not to recognise a 35-year-old woman — who was born in a Pahang refugee camp to parents who were Muslim refugees from Cambodia — as a Malaysian citizen.
The woman Azimah Hamzah is the only one in her family who is not yet a Malaysian. She had previously applied but failed at the High Court then appealed to the Court of Appeal to be recognised as a Malaysian by arguing that she is a stateless person with no Cambodian citizenship.
While Azimah was born in Malaysia and her parents and all her siblings had became Malaysians, the Court of Appeal said that she had not fulfilled the requirements under the pathway of Article 14(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution and Section 1(e) of Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
The Court of Appeal however said that Azimah still had the alternative option of pursuing Malaysian citizenship by way of naturalisation under Article 19 of the Federal Constitution.
In reading the brief grounds of a three-judge panel’s unanimous decision, Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court’s March 2020 decision to dismiss Azimah’s bid for Malaysian citizenship.
Vazeer Alam said the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court judge’s findings that concluded Azimah is not a stateless person, and also agreed that both Article 14(1)(b) and the Section 1(e) — two constitutional provisions which would enable a person to be recognised as a Malaysian citizen — do not apply to Azimah.
Vazeer Alam said the Court of Appeal panel took note of the fact that Azimah’s parents and all her siblings have subsequently acquired Malaysian citizenship, and went on to highlight the other citizenship route that Azimah could still try.
“We empathise with her predicament. Nevertheless, the door is not closed. It is still open to her to apply for citizenship by naturalisation if the requirements are met.
“We find no merit in the appeal and the appeal is dismissed,” the judge said in dismissing Azimah’s appeal.
The three-member Court of Appeal panel was chaired by Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said. Datuk Gunalan Muniandy was the third judge.
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