Malaysian mothers' grievances could only be remedied through constitutional amendment, not the courts

SHAH ALAM – The greviences of Malaysian mothers could only be remedied through an amendment of the Federal Constitution by the Parliament, not via the court, says family rights advocacy group Family Frontiers.

Its president Suriani Kempe said they will not be deterred by the Court of Appeal's ruling that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers who are married to foreign spouses are not entitled by operation of law to be Malaysian citizens.

The group and six Malaysian women who are married to foreigners with overseas-born children had on Sept 9, 2021, succeeded in their lawsuit seeking for their children born abroad to automatically become Malaysian citizens.

However, a three-member bench in a 2-1 majority overturned the decision after allowing an appeal by the government, Home Ministry and National Registration Department (NRD) director-general.

"The grievances of Malaysian mothers can only be remedied through an amendment to the Federal Constitution by Parliament, and not via the courts," Suriani said adding that they will file an appeal against the decision.

She also expressed disappointment over the ruling saying that the lives of the mothers and that of their children would continue to be affected by the devastating interpretation of the Federal Constitution that perpetuates gender discrimination.

"This is indeed a setback, but we will not be deterred.

"We stand firm in the belief that one day our government will see us, Malaysian women, as we see ourselves, as equal citizens, and that our children have just as much a right to be Malaysian as the children of Malaysian men.

"The inability to confer citizenship on a child, on the basis of gender, is both disheartening and dehumanising. Women and children are forced to endure prolonged hardships, including being trapped in abusive situations and facing unequal access to fundamental rights," she said.

She said while Malaysian men have enjoyed the right to automatically pass down their citizenship to their overseas-born children for over 60 years, Malaysian women and their children have unnecessarily suffered as a result of our nation’s gender-discriminatory citizenship laws, policies and practices.

"While many mothers hoped that the Court of Appeal would side with Malaysian women, this setback means that the fight for overseas-born children’s safety and well-being goes on," she said.

She also pointed out that judge Datuk S. Nantha Balan, who gave the dissenting judgement, viewed that there was a plain and apparent conflict between Article 8(2) and Article 14(1)(b) of the Constitution which implied that the bloodline of the mother is inferior to the bloodline of the father.

"It is illogical, perverse and degrading to the dignity of Malaysian women," Nantha Balan was quoted saying.

Suriani also said the government still has an opportunity to correct the disproportionate and ongoing harm against Malaysian women and their children for over 60 years. Having already committed to amend Article 14(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution by July 2022, she said the governmentit must now honour its promise to instantly remedy this injustice.

The group also called on the government to comply with its international obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Earlier today, the Court of Appeal in a 2-1 majority decision ruled that the children born overseas to Malaysian mothers who are married to foreign spouses are not entitled by operation of law to be Malaysian citizens.

A three-member bench chaired by judge Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said made the ruling after allowing the appeal by the government, Home Ministry and NRD director-general.

The majority decision was agreed to by Kamaluddin and judge Datuk Azizah Nawawi, while Nantha Balan dissented.