Groups hopeful for dialogue on citizenship laws
PETALING JAYA: Civil society groups are hopeful that the government will keep the doors open until June to address the remaining contentious issues affecting the proposed citizenship laws.

This comes after the Dewan Rakyat was adjourned shortly after the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 was read out for its second reading by Home Minister Datuk Seri Safuddin Nasution Ismail without debate or a vote.

The Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance (MCRA) was hopeful that this three-month window would be an opportunity for the government to further engage with stakeholders and parliamentarians on the remaining contentious provisions.

“The Bill will continue at the next parliamentary meeting, which will start in June.

“In the intervening period, we hope to engage with the government and parliamentarians on the concerns we have raised regarding several provisions of the Bill,” the coalition of 18 non-governmental organisations said in a statement yesterday.

The goal, MCRA said, is to find the best solutions that will benefit, in particular, the most vulnerable, while taking into account the government’s concerns.

On Monday, Saifuddin Nasution tabled the Bill for its first reading and said it would be passed during the current Dewan Rakyat meeting, which ran from Feb 26 to March 27.

The Bill was to have addressed the citizenship plight of children born to Malaysian mothers abroad, but also contained several other amendments deemed regressive by civil society.

Among the proposed amendments was the one on foundlings or abandoned children and stateless children, which was then dropped last Friday before the Bill was tabled in Parliament.

However, the groups claimed that the other proposed amendments that were not dropped would have a negative impact on stateless children, undocumented Malaysians including Orang Asli and Orang Asal, and foreign wives of Malaysian men.

Voice of the Children chairperson Sharmila Sekaran said she hoped the government would be willing to engage with civil society groups before Parliament met in June.

“Ultimately, we want the same things – protection of children, vulnerable communities and ensuring the safety and security of the nation,” she said when contacted.

She added that civil society groups were looking forward to future sessions with the minister.

“We’re not here to make life difficult for anyone, and we are not opposing it for the sake of it,” she said.

Sharmila lauded Saifuddin Nasution for giving his assurance to resolve some 14,000 backlogged citizenship applications under Article 15A by December.

Child activist Datuk Hartini Zainudin said she was still willing to provide her views to the government on the proposed amendments to resolve citizenship issues in a holistic manner.

“As a representative of civil society, we stand ready to serve, but we need a multi-pronged approach to solve this in the long term,” she said when contacted.

Before the Bill was read out for the second time, Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim stood up to request that the Bill be referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) before the amendments were passed.

“I wrote to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker this morning as well,” he said.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul acknowledged receiving the notice, adding that consideration would be made once the second reading of the Bill was completed by the minister.

However, Johari adjourned the House without addressing Hassan’s request.Meanwhile, Ayer Hitam MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said he was prepared to debate the Bill but was surprised that the Dewan Rakyat was adjourned without any extension of time.

The government, he said, would now have to wait until June to resolve the citizenship issue.

Media members covering proceedings at the Parliament observed that the Dewan Rakyat, which did not break for its usual 90-minute lunch this week, made an exception yesterday despite the lack of time to debate the Bill.
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PETALING JAYA: Civil society groups are hopeful that the government will keep the doors open until June to address the remai­n­ing contentious issues affecting the proposed citizenship laws.