In a significant step towards ending gender discrimination in nationality laws, Malaysia’s lower house of parliament (Dewan Rakyat) voted on October 17 to amend Malaysia’s Constitution to uphold women’s right to confer nationality on children born abroad on an equal basis with men. The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights celebrates this victory for justice and women’s equal citizenship in Malaysia. This achievement would not have been realized without the relentless campaign led by our dear coalition member Family Frontiers, alongside a courageous group of impacted mothers and their families.
The bill will have to be passed through the upper house of parliament (Dewan Negara) and be presented to the Conference of Rulers for their consent before it is gazetted. We hope these institutions move swiftly to enshrine in law, women’s right to confer nationality on their children abroad.
We hope Malaysia’s important step will inspire the remaining twenty-three countries that still deny women the equal right to pass citizenship to their children, and the over forty with other gender-discriminatory provisions, to end this discrimination. Upholding gender-equal nationality laws not only aligns with governments’ commitments to uphold gender equality and the right to nationality without discrimination but is also in the best interest of society as a whole. Sustainable development and thriving, inclusive societies cannot be realized in the absence of gender-equal nationality laws.
While this is a monumental step forward, it is regrettable that the bill is not retroactive, excluding children born before the amendment, especially leaving behind those over the age of 18 who can no longer apply for citizenship by registration. These women, children, and their families, who have waited for this change for years, deserve to see their children fully recognized as Malaysians. We call on the Government to put in place mechanisms to ensure clear pathways to citizenship for these children, including honouring its commitment to processing all existing citizenship applications by next year and implementing transparent and streamlined application processes for new applications.
We deeply thank and hold in the highest esteem our colleagues at Family Frontiers and all the impacted mothers who fought for these reforms for your immense contributions to the struggle for gender equality. Your resilience and unwavering dedication to the fight for gender-equal nationality laws have brought us to this significant moment.