PETALING JAYA: Human rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has dismissed home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s claim that the government has the exclusive right to grant citizenship.
LFL director Zaid Malek said Saifuddin’s statement was inaccurate and posed a threat to the citizenship rights of Malaysians, as it appeared to undermine the rights guaranteed under Article 14 of the Federal Constitution.
Article 14 establishes the criteria and processes for acquiring Malaysian citizenship, including by birth, descent, registration or naturalisation.
“There is no room for interference or obstruction by the federal government should one fall within the criteria listed,” Zaid said in a statement today.
This comes after Saifuddin said on Sunday the government was reviewing more than 9,000 citizenship applications for approval.
He also said the granting of Malaysian citizenship was the exclusive right of the federal government and it cannot be conferred arbitrarily.
Zaid said Saifuddin’s statement was unlawful and that it was the primary reason for the national registration department’s (JPN) reluctance to follow the law when dealing with stateless Malaysians born in the country.
“There are tens of thousands of cases where those who are citizens as of right under the constitution are denied citizenship despite falling squarely within the criteria listed under Part I and Part II of the second schedule of the constitution,” he said.
He said the ministry was routinely disregarding court decisions, citing a landmark ruling by the Federal Court in 2021 which recognised the rights of foundlings to citizenship.
He also criticised the proposed constitutional amendments to citizenship laws, saying they would exacerbate the statelessness issue by imposing even more stringent citizenship qualification criteria.
“Despite massive outcry against the proposed amendments, the government has remained silent and the home minister has confirmed that they are still moving ahead with the proposal by tabling it to the (Malay) rulers,” he said.
“There has been no reasonable response by the ministry on the plight of the stateless should the amendment come to pass.”
Ten civil society organisations and nine activists who attended a meeting with the ministry in June had said the proposed constitutional amendments would “worsen childhood statelessness”.
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