KUCHING: The Sarawak Women for Women Society today called on all Sarawak MPs to request a decoupling of all three remaining "regressive amendments" on the amendment Bill to the Federal Constitution on citizenship laws.
The Sarawak women, while hailing the federal government's decision to withdraw two of the proposed changes to the Constitution were deeply concerned that other regressive amendments remain.
They stressed that children born to natives of Sarawak and Sabah, whose parents were issued a red identity card (IC denoting non-citizens) rather than a blue IC (denoting citizens), for a variety of reasons, could be most affected by the proposed amendments.
The federal government announced the decision to withdraw tabling of the amendment Bill last Friday.
SWWS said the federal government should allow more time for research and consideration before passing the amendment.
It said Putrajaya should take a leaf out of Sarawak's stand on Padu.
"(Don't) rush into making changes before all angles and implications have been carefully considered."
The Bill, if it had been tabled and the amendments approved, would have stopped the automatic right to citizenship to children who have been abandoned by their parents and are cared for by others.
"If the proposed amendments were passed, many more children will find their chances blocked as they will join the long waiting lists for their applications for statelessness to be considered," SWWS said.
SWWS said the citizenship application process was already complicated, non-transparent and "so notoriously long" that the children would have become adults before their applications were even decided.
Last Friday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Putrajaya had decided to drop two proposed amendments involving Article 19B and Section 1(e) Part 2 of Schedule 2 of the Federal Constitution.
These amendments would have deprived foundlings and stateless children of automatic citizenship and would see them needing to register for it instead.
Section 19B, Part III provides that foundlings are given automatic citizenship by operation of law, giving them the benefit of the doubt as to the date and place of their birth, as the status of their biological parents is unknown and unable to be verified.
Section 1(e), Part II states that citizenship is given to vulnerable and affected people, such as children born out of wedlock, adopted and abandoned stateless children, and indigenous communities.