KUCHING: The Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) is happy the government will be tabling an amendment to the Federal Constitution so that Malaysian women who have children born abroad to foreign fathers can automatically pass on their citizenship.
The society said this will correct a glaring gender inequality and put to rest the legal argument over which part of the Constitution has primacy.
“The debate has been between Article 14 1(b) which states fathers have the right to automatically pass on citizenship or Article 5 (2) which in 2001 was amended to include discrimination on the grounds of gender as being unlawful.
“We hope the amendment, when tabled in the current sitting will be supported by the required two-thirds majority followed by immediately establishing systems so that children in this category are quickly issued with their citizenship,” said SWWS when contacted on Sunday (Feb 19).
SWWS added that this amendment will help many Sarawakian women as trans-national families marriage is not uncommon.
“It is an important step and it is thanks to the courage of the women who took the government to court and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Family Frontiers, that the need to amend the Constitution has been highlighted and gained public support,” it said.
SWWS also said there is much more to be done to settle the outstanding citizenship issue within Sarawak.
Most of the children and adults awaiting documentation were born here and SWWS said often the problems date back to uncertainty over the nationality of a parent or grandparent and the lack of documentation required today.
“At national level, there is little understanding of the practical problems people in the interior have in providing such proof.
“We would urge that there is special consideration made to the situation in the state so that an amnesty can be made for those genuinely in this category as deemed by a state appointment committee.
“The lack of documentation blights people’s lives and prevents them from contributing to the state’s economy in the way they could if they had the documentation and education to be gainfully employed,” it stressed.
