KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Lawyers for Liberty today urged the federal government to immediately reverse its recently tabled constitutional amendments that it said is “regressive” for excluding existing children born overseas to Malaysian mothers.

The group’s director Zaid Malek revived the issue after accusing Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh of downplaying the controversies surrounding the Bill that seeks to enable automatic citizenship for children born overseas to Malaysian mothers — a constitutional right that was previously reserved for Malaysian fathers.

“We refer to the statement made by Minister Hannah Yeoh in an interview published today in which she defended the controversial citizenship Bill and said she was ‘pleased’ that the government had ‘managed to table the Bill’ and that it would give Malaysian mothers with children born overseas the right to confer citizenship upon them.

“Yeoh’s comments on the controversial citizenship Bill is grossly misleading, dishonest and completely ignores the serious concerns about the Bill raised by civil society, human rights lawyers, the Bar Council, Suhakam, prominent individuals and even some PH MPs,” he said in a statement.

Zaid said the last Dewan Rakyat session had adjourned before the Bill could even be debated by lawmakers, a move he described as accomplishing nothing since the debate has been deferred to the next session scheduled in June.

He also pointed out that the federal government had included new provisions that would exclude existing cases of overseas-born children to Malaysian mothers as the proposed Bill will not have retrospective effect.

“Firstly, the citizenship Bill failed to be debated and passed by parliament in the recent session, despite all the promises made by the unity government leaders that the plight of the Malaysian mothers would be resolved.

“Secondly, the thousands upon thousands of stateless children born overseas to Malaysian mothers will receive no benefit whatsoever from this Bill, contrary to what was claimed by Hannah Yeoh.

“It is a great disappointment that Yeoh and her colleagues persist in painting a false and positive picture of the citizenship bill, which bears no connection with the reality,” Zaid said.

In an interview with news portal Malaysiakini published today, Yeoh acknowledged the brickbats surrounding the proposed citizenship law amendments, but remained adamant that the part of it which gives equal rights to Malaysian mothers regarding overseas-born children was a positive move.

“Nothing can change the fact that it was the coalition government that tabled the Bill in the Parliament to give Malaysian mothers the equal opportunity and right to confer citizenship on their overseas-born children.

“We managed to table the Bill. So, for that, I’m very pleased that there was political will to bring it (to the Parliament),” she was quoted as telling Malaysiakini.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/04/09/lawyers-group-calls-out-hannah-yeoh-for-misleading-remarks-about-citizenship-bill-urges-govt-to-include-existing-children-born-abroad-to-malaysian-mums/128067