FOR a long time, foreign wives of Malaysians have struggled in a bureaucratic maze that prevents them from becoming citizens of Malaysia. The application process for citizenship for these women typically takes many years, starting with the procedure to obtain an entry permit. These women can remain non-citizen spouses of Malaysian husbands and mothers of Malaysian children until retirement age and beyond. As these women have devoted their lives to raising their families and contributing to Malaysian society, this is distressing and disheartening.  

As Malaysian students, we feel the urge to address the problem as we have heard miserable stories and experiences, including from our colleagues. One such story relayed to us is that of a woman in her 70s, Aunty M, who arrived in Malaysia in 1980. She married a man from Kedah and has since brought up her family in Malaysia. She has lived her entire life in Malaysia yet her citizenship application has been consistently delayed or turned down for no reason 

A single mother since the death of her husband many years ago, she has had to live with the bitter reminder that she does not belong here despite the strong ties she has developed with the country and its people. Aunty M’s painful experience is simply the tip of the iceberg. There are many other foreign women who are suffering similar situations.

Recently, it was reported that the Home Ministry would amend the Federal Constitution to allow Malaysian women to confer citizenship on their children who are born abroad, just as Malaysian men are able to do. While this is a welcome step, the government has also proposed an amendment that would cause the foreign wife’s citizenship to be revoked if her marriage to a Malaysian man ends within two years of her receiving the citizenship 

The rule that the foreign wife could keep the citizenship only as long as they are married to the Malaysian man is dicey as the termination of their union—whether by death or divorce—will terminate her right to citizenship and the protections that the citizenship offers. In such a situation, a woman would end up stateless if she had previously renounced her citizenship in her home country, leaving her unable return to her own country or stay in Malaysia. Even if she were able to go home, she could discover that she had lost the rights and privileges that come with nationality.  

Such women are also highly susceptible to abuse, exploitation and being denied access to children who hold a different nationality when they remain foreign, if not stateless. 

While we respect the authority of the home minister to amend the citizenship provisions as deemed fit and necessary, we implore the minister to carefully weigh the potentially grave consequences of such changes. The heavily bureaucratised procedures are already a huge mental, psychological, financial and practical strain on these women. Any amendments must not come at the expense of leaving them and their children more vulnerable to losing human rights protections and facing the traumatising impacts of separation. – September 27, 2023.

 * Lina Mysarah Amiyamin, Muhammad Danial Mohd Daud, Nurul Husna Zaini and Shahrizal Mizani Abd Khamis read The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.