Have some thoughts for the stateless children

 

By Stephen Ng

I read the letter by the Stateless Malaysian Citizenship Movement, urging the Federal Government to end the woes of stateless children from citizenship trauma.

             It goes without saying that thousands of children born in this country have suffered for one reason -- because they are stateless.  

Although the choice is not in their hand, they happen to be born in a country which exercises Jus Sanguinis, a principle of law which determines the citizenship of an individual by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents.  

In some cases, even though the father may be Malaysian, when they are born out of wedlock, they remain stateless for life.

In Sabah, where there is a mass migration of people from the Philippines and Indonesia, children born to these parents are also stateless.

While most of our children can go to school, own their bank accounts, or travel overseas, stateless children will limit their parents’ overseas travel.

What Went Wrong?

                If anyone cares to find out, it does not take much effort to obtain the Hansard dated 30 January 1962 from the official website of the Malaysian Parliament, when the Federal Constitution was amended to change the country’s apex law on nationality from Jus Soli to Jus Sanguinis.

                Jus Soli means that one’s birthright citizenship is based on the place of birth. Most countries around the world practise Jus Soli.  

                If Malaysians want to be on par with the rest of the world in practising Jus Soli, the federal constitution has to be revisited, and the principle of law amended back to the original practice of Jus Soli.

                This may be the best time for the country to right what went wrong after the amendment to the federal constitution.

                If we dare to place God above the Federal Constitution in the Rukunegara, we have to accept that the birth right of a young person is based on the place of birth, meaning that, if the child is born in Malaysia, he or she is automatically a Malaysian.

                Without this amendment made to the Federal Constitution, thousands of unresolved cases of statelessness will continue. However, with the current ethnocentricity, it is hard to believe that this will ever be possible unless God redirects this country to give everyone an opportunity to be a citizen, who is born in this country.

Let them Contribute to Economic Growth

                Sabahans may claim that there are tens of thousands of stateless children, and if the federal constitution is reverted to Jus Soli, they will suddenly find a big surge in school registration.

                Parents, who are so used to having their children interacting with children of their own kind, suddenly find their children mixing with the children of Filipinos and Indonesians in the same school.

                It is the same feelings that the Afrikaners in South Africa would feel before the apartheid laws were introduced. Today, after 30 years since the dismantling of the Apartheid Regime, South Africa is a rainbow nation, where every skin colour is celebrated.

                This was the result of one man, Nelson Mandela who believed in national reconciliation. Shortly after coming to power, he appointed his nemesis as his deputy, a move that was well-received by the rest of the world.

                Perhaps, in Malaysia, we are experiencing a part of history where a unity government had to be formed, where an Umno president had to be picked as deputy prime minister. This, in itself, is quite unusual.

                Anwar, being the Prime Minister, had often said, “Anak Melayu, anak saya; anak India, anak saya; anak Kadazan-Dusun, anak saya; anak Dayak, anak saya.” Being Chinese, I place my own race last out of humility but would Anwar now add, “Anak Myanmar, anak saya? Anak Bangla, anak saya?”

Even if Anwar can say that, would you and I agree? Can we put aside our prejudices against these foreigners and treat them as our own children, and even our closest friends?

                This may be too far-fetching but stateless people are not necessarily foreigners, yet we are depriving them of their citizenship. This is nothing but a law that discriminates against the innocent child from enjoying the privileges his or her contemporaries get to enjoy while growing up in this country.

                Why can’t we just revert to Jus Soli and approve on a case to case basis if the Malaysian parents of children born overseas choose to apply for Malaysian citizenship? Instead of becoming a social problem, we should allow them an opportunity to contribute to the economic growth of our nation.

Also read:
Shouldn't we also have some compassion for the children of refugees? 
https://come-to-senses.blogspot.com/2022/12/government-should-provide-them-with.html