Template PS 2024

Press Statement No. 23-2024_Constitutional (Amendment) Bill of Citizenship Clauses

KUALA LUMPUR (7 OCTOBER 2024) – The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) is deeply alarmed about the recent news of a Member of Parliament’s remark on the exemption of Sabah from provisions of proposed amendments to citizenship clauses. Article 161E(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution requires the concurrence of the states of Sabah and Sarawak for the amendment of citizenship clauses. The abrupt development signalled the disarray of the government in the preparation of this bill.

SUHAKAM strongly urges the Government to seriously reconsider the removal of present automatic right to citizenship of children born within Malaysia to permanent residents. The rights to citizenship that has been entrenched in the Federal Constitution through the wisdom of our forefathers should not be taken away by way of any amendment to the Constitution. SUHAKAM would like to reiterate its stance to the amendment to the Federal Constitution on citizenship rights should be in the spirit of enhancing these rights and not directed to taking away or diluting these rights. It remains our concern that the removal of the right to automatic citizenship of children born to permanent residents would only exacerbate the problem of statelessness.

Moreover, despite the applaudable move in the bill to extend equal rights to Malaysian women to pass down citizenship to their children born overseas, we would like to emphasise on the application of retrospective effect for the benefit of children born after September 2001.  The constitutional amendment of Article 8 in 2001 guarantees equal treatment for both genders before the law and the retrospectivity will not only level up the past inequality for the affected Malaysian women and but also remedy the unfairness to the said children who should have been entitled to automatic citizenship had their mothers not been discriminated.

SUHAKAM urges the Government and Parliamentarians to continue in holding meaningful consultations and pragmatic engagements with all relevant stakeholders including stateless children and affected communities in addressing the causes of statelessness and the impediment for registration of document.

The current state of statelessness in Malaysia did not happen in a vacuum nor it is accidental. It reflects and exposes the perpetual creation of statelessness in our public service delivery for decades. It is clear that an overhaul reform is necessitated with urgency and good faith to fix the broken system.

Whilst SUHAKAM appreciates the piecemeal initiatives and various efforts demonstrated recently by the Ministry of Home Affairs in expediting citizenship application and registration of birth and marriage within the marginalised community, however, there must be in place the legal and administrative safeguards so as to avoid any individual falls through the crack of the system that render them stateless or undocumented.
SUHAKAM calls upon Members of Parliament and Senators from both Houses to set the parameters in the upcoming Parliamentary debate to get categorical assurance from the government in their administrative and legislative reform to not only end statelessness but deliver a clear, transparent and inclusive pathway towards citizenship for prospective nationals.

-TAMAT-

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)

Date: 7 October 2024

PS

Press Statement No. 17-2022: Addressing Statelessness issue in Sabah / Kenyataan Media No. 17-2022: Menangani Isu Ketakbernegaraan di Sabah

Kenyataan Media
KUALA LUMPUR (30 NOVEMBER 2022) – The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) welcomes the recent initiative by the Sabah State Government to set up a temporary shelter and provide basic living skill training for homeless children mostly from the Pala’u community in Kota Kinabalu, which the operation is expected to start by the end of this year.

As part of SUHAKAM’s mandate enshrined in Article 4 of the SUHAKAM Act 1999 to protect and promote human rights in Malaysia, SUHAKAM has already been looking into issues of statelessness for many years. Part of our initiative includes signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Commission on Human Rights of Indonesia (KOMNASHAM) and the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP) on improving the lives of the Sabah stateless population.

Statelessness particularly has adverse impact on children. Undocumented children always suffer from discrimination and on some occasions, are denied basic rights as they are unable to access formal education, and medical care and they are at higher risk of child labour and human trafficking. They may also be at risk of being arrested or detained by the authorities, especially if they are seen begging or loitering in public areas. In line with Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which Malaysia is a signatory to, children are protected from any discrimination under the responsibility of the State. The State also has the obligation to protect a child’s rights to name and identity as mentioned in Article 7 and 8 of the CRC.


The Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia contains a strong legal safeguard against statelessness and with this initiative, SUHAKAM hopes Malaysia is moving towards intensifying its effort in reducing or ending statelessness of children. SUHAKAM will continue to advise, monitor, and work with the Government to achieve greater complaints resolution rate in particular on the issues related to the statelessness in Sabah.
Prof. Dato’ Dr. Rahmat Mohamad
Pengerusi SUHAKAM
Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (SUHAKAM)
30 November 2022

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KENYATAAN MEDIA
KUALA LUMPUR (30 NOVEMBER 2022) – Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia menyambut baik inisiatif baharu Kerajaan Negeri Sabah untuk mewujudkan sebuah pusat perlindungan sementara yang menyediakan latihan asas kemahiran hidup bagi kanak-kanak jalanan yang kebanyakannya dari komuniti Pala’u di Kota Kinabalu, di mana ia bakal dimulakan pada hujung tahun ini.

Selaras mandat di bawah Seksyen 4 Akta SUHAKAM 1999 iaitu untuk melindungi dan memajukan hak asasi manusia di Malaysia, SUHAKAM telah meneliti isu individu tidak bernegara ini selama bertahun-tahun. Antara inisiatif yang dilaksana oleh SUHAKAM adalah menandatangani Memorandum Persefahaman (MoU) dengan Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Indonesia (Komnas HAM) dan Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Filipina (CHRP) untuk bekerjasama menambahbaik taraf hidup individu tidak bernegara di Sabah.

Ketakbernegaraan mengakibatkan kesan buruk kepada kanak-kanak. Kanak-kanak tanpa dokumen sentiasa didiskriminasi dan dalam beberapa keadaan, hak asasi mereka dinafikan kerana mereka tidak mendapat akses kepada pendidikan formal, rawatan perubatan serta mereka menghadapi risiko lebih tinggi menjadi mangsa buruh kanak-kanak dan pemerdagangan manusia. Mereka juga berisiko ditangkap atau ditahan oleh pihak berkuasa, lebih-lebih lagi jika mereka dilihat mengemis atau berlegar-legar di kawasan awam. Selaras dengan Perkara 2 Konvensyen mengenai hak Kanak-kanak (CRC), yang mana Malaysia adalah penandatangan, adalah menjadi tanggungjawab Negara untuk melindungi kanak-kanak daripada sebarang bentuk diskriminasi. Negara juga mempunyai kewajiban untuk melindungi hak kanak-kanak kepada nama dan identiti seperti yang dinyatakan dalam Perkara 7 dan 8 CRC.


Jadual Kedua Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia mengandungi perlindungan undang-undang yang kukuh terhadap ketakbernegaraan dan dengan inisiatif ini, SUHAKAM berharap Malaysia maju ke arah mempergiat usaha untuk mengurang atau menamatkan ketakbernegaraan kanak-kanak. SUHAKAM akan terus menasihati, memantau dan bekerjasama dengan Kerajaan untuk mencapai kadar penyelesaian aduan yang lebih baik khususnya mengenai isu-isu yang berkaitan dengan ketakbernegaraan di negeri Sabah.

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Rahmat Mohamad
Pengerusi
Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (SUHAKAM)
30 November 2022