KUALA LUMPUR: The government should drop, or at least delay, the tabling of amendments to Section 1(a) and Section 2(3) until data, evidence from the field and detailed studies are collected, said a non-governmental organisation.
However, the Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance (MCRA) today said the government should proceed with the amendments on Malaysian mothers' equal citizenship rights.
MRCA spokesman Suriani Kempe said: "Amendments to the constitution require further study to avoid harming vulnerable groups.
"The rest of these regressive amendments, as formulated, do not solve the root cause of the statelessness problem identified by the government."
She said this at Buku Jalanan, Chow Kit, here.
She said Sections 1(e) and 19B had been removed from the government's amendment proposal, but both needed to be read together with other amended provisions.
Suriani said Section 19B must be read together with Section 1(a), while Section 1(e) needed to be read with Section 2(3).
"This is because Section 1(a) aims to grant citizenship rights to permanent resident (PR) children.
"Section 19B assumes that the mother of a stranded child is a PR."
Suriani, who is also Family Frontiers president, said removing PR from Section 1(a) would jeopardise the right to citizenship for foundlings and intergenerational stateless children.
"We urge the government to proceed with tabling the amendments to Sections 1(b) and 1(c), Part II of the Second Schedule (relating to Article 14(1)(b)) on Malaysian mothers' equal citizenship rights, and to drop, or at the very least, hold back the amendments to the above provisions."
Meanwhile, the MCRA said the government should not lower the age limit from 21 to 18 to acquire citizenship until the Home Ministry addressed challenges in processing and administering procedures within its jurisdiction.
"The MRCA is ready to cooperate and provide solutions related to citizenship issues."
It made this call following the announcement by the ministry, which has agreed to drop two proposed amendments to the constitution on the citizenship of foundlings.
The two proposed amendments that will be dropped are 19B Part III of the Second Schedule and Section 1(e) Part I.