THE government’s decision to appeal the recent high court decision giving Malaysian women equal rights as men to confer citizenship on their overseas-born children has been denounced by DAP.

Secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said there was no reason why children born to Malaysian parents abroad should be discriminated against and not accorded the right to citizenship.

“The high court rightly decided that to bar Malaysian mothers from conferring citizenship on their overseas-born children is wrong.

“This is also unconstitutional gender discrimination contrary to basic human rights as outlined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he said.

The Bagan MP added that the matter makes a mockery of the Malaysian Family concept coined by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“If the attorney-general refuses to withdraw the appeal, then the prime minister should state his stand clearly and unequivocally to the AG to show that he is different from past prime ministers,” he added.

The government appealed the high court decision that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers are entitled to citizenship by operation of law.

The high court ruling on September 9 came after six Malaysian women and the family support group, Family Frontiers, filed the suit in December 2020 against certain provisions of the Federal Constitution, which they said were discriminatory.

Before the judgment, the law only allowed a Malaysian father to pass on his citizenship to his children born outside the federation.

Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar had also previously called the government to abort its appeal. He said that all children born to Malaysian parents abroad must be accorded the right to citizenship in this country.

“It doesn’t feel right that Malaysian fathers and mothers are viewed differently in the eyes of the law concerning their child’s citizenship. Are Malaysian mothers less Malaysian than Malaysian fathers?” Sultan Ibrahim said in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Saturday. – September 20, 2021.