PETALING JAYA: A coalition of NGOs and activists has launched a “counter-proposal” to the 2024 Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, scheduled to be tabled for second reading in the ongoing Dewan Rakyat meeting.
The Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance (MCRA) said the document, which outlines its version of proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution, would be sent to every minister and MP later today.
It also said it was ready to discuss the recommendations with the government.
“If the government is adamant about tabling the bill in its current form, it must take into consideration the concerns and recommendations in MCRA’s counter-proposal.
“The document summarises the key consequences of the regressive amendments and sets out detailed recommendations for several legal and procedural improvements to the bill,” MCRA said in a statement.
One of the proposed amendments under the bill will automatically confer citizenship to children born overseas to Malaysian mothers, but not apply retrospectively to existing children under the same parameters.
Other proposed amendments will make it tougher to obtain citizenship, including lowering the age limit of childhood citizenship applications from 21 to 18 years and removing automatic citizenship for children of permanent residents born in Malaysia.
MCRA also said it has repeatedly raised the negative consequences of the bill to home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail over the past year, but no action has been taken to address these concerns between March and July this year.
The group reiterated its call to the government to separate the amendments concerning mothers from the regressive ones and proposed delaying these for further review and consultation.
“The remaining amendments in the bill are regressive and will eliminate several existing rights to automatic citizenship.
“(They) will impact stateless Indigenous Malaysians and their children, adopted children, children born outside of wedlock and those affected by inter-generational statelessness,” it said.
In the 23-page counter-proposal, MCRA recommended that the home ministry issue ministerial orders to speed up the lengthy process for citizenship applications.
It also suggested DNA testing for children born out of wedlock to non-Malaysian mothers to confirm Malaysian paternity, along with providing medical and school records as proof of birth in the country.
Additionally, it proposed that adopted foreign children should be recognised as children of Malaysian parents by the government, allowing them to register for citizenship.
It was previously reported that the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) plans to submit a memorandum to the Conference of Rulers next Tuesday to voice its objection to the government’s regressive amendments.
