DEAR Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim,

When it was announced in February the cabinet had agreed to amend the Federal Constitution to enable children born abroad to Malaysian mothers to gain Malaysian citizenship by operation of law, there was a cry of elation and of tremendous relief within our network of affected mothers.

This amendment, when it comes to pass, will change the lives and fates of Malaysian women and their non-citizen children, and ensure no one else will have to bear the brunt of this unequal law that has caused painful separations, deep uncertainty, and harm in situations of domestic abuse or marital separation.

However, this sense of hope was dampened when the tabling of the amendment in parliament was delayed till September, to give time for a six-month study by the committee on citizenship. We concur that issues of national importance require careful consideration, but this gender-unequal citizenship issue is a long-standing one – one that has been raised and persistently made known to relevant government agencies from as early as 2018.

These delays directly impact us. With each passing day Danial, an impacted child who is now an adult, becomes one day closer to having to leave the country; Siti (real name withheld for privacy) spends one more day trapped in marital violence; Shahana, who has special needs, is pushed further away from the healthcare she urgently needs; Omar, a stateless child, continues to languish without the fundamental rights that come with legal status.

Ours is not a cry of impatience, but a cry of desperation.

Recently, the Home Ministry announced their target to process 10,000 citizenship applications this year. We welcome this move as the majority of us have applied for citizenship for our children under article 15(2). However, the outcomes we have seen have only underscored how highly insufficient this route is due to its discretionary nature, lengthy waiting times, and lack of transparency. There are at least three mothers who discovered this month that their applications were rejected three years ago. In the three years they made status checks with the ministry and the National Registration Department, they were told their cases were “still in process”.

In the case of rejections, no reasons are ever given. The lack of any explanation leaves mothers in the dark over why they have been denied. The mothers mentioned above have waited for a very long eight years. Many of us have waited even longer than that. And many of us are still waiting.

We would also like to make reference to the home minister’s recent statement, which said citizenship applications are rejected when applicants have never lived in Malaysia. While we are unsure if this is a criterion when considering article 15(2) applications for Malaysian mothers and their children born outside Malaysia, we would like to highlight that rejection based on the criterion of never having lived in Malaysia is unfair.

There are complex and varied reasons why Malaysian women may be living overseas with their non-citizen children. Some are overseas for employment, and some have relocated as their non-citizen spouses are unable to obtain employment in Malaysia on a Long Term Social Visit Pass due to restrictions. There are also those who are forced to remain abroad, or are unable to return home to Malaysia due to the lack of protection and access to fundamental matters for their children, including healthcare, education, and other basic services, which will have long-lasting consequences on their lives.

There are also mothers who have moved back to Malaysia to put down roots and raise their families, who have also received rejections after waiting for many years. We face many obstacles and bureaucratic issues in raising our non-citizen children in this country. 

It is essential to remember that behind every application is a child whose future and wellbeing depend on a Malaysian citizenship. We are more than just a pile of documents on the ministry’s desk, and we are more than just a key performance indicator. Behind every application is a child whose life is on hold.

The mothers in our network would be most grateful for an opportunity to meet with you and share our lived realities. This would be an opportunity to have your ear on the ground and for all involved to have a deeper understanding of the issue.

This government has the power, and the duty, to ensure protection and care of the wellbeing of its citizens – Malaysian women and their children. Granting Malaysian women equal citizenship rights for their overseas-born children is putting the concept of “ihsan” into action, which will in turn give true meaning to Malaysia Madani. Please do not delay and deny us any longer. Embrace our children into the fold as citizens and let them live wholly as Malaysians, because their mothers are Malaysians. – April 20, 2023.

* The Malaysian Mothers Network for Equal Citizenship is an organisation fighting for equal citizenship for children born abroad to Malaysian mothers.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.