Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – After a decade in the United States, Aniza Ismail returned to Malaysia in 2009 with her two daughters. Recently separated from the girls’ Indonesian father, the 50-year-old wanted to bring them closer to her extended family and equip them with a better understanding of Islam.
But despite the fact that Aniza is Malaysian and the family has lived in Malaysia for 12 years, her daughters are not Malaysian.
This is because the girls were born outside the country. Malaysian women married to foreigners are unable to pass their citizenship to their children born abroad because the constitution only affords the right to Malaysian men.
“Why do fathers so easily have the right, but not mothers? My two eldest daughters who were born outside Malaysia can’t get citizenship, but my youngest born in Malaysia automatically gets citizenship. Why the difference?” Aniza asked.
Article 14(1)(b) of Malaysia’s constitution gives fathers the automatic right to confer citizenship on their children born abroad – but omits any mention of mothers.
In December 2020, local rights group Family Frontiers and six other Malaysian mothers with non-Malaysian spouses and children challenged the constitutionality of the clause in the courts, asking that judges interpret it in line with the principle of gender equality.
Despite a High Court ruling in the mothers’ favour last September, the government has continued to oppose their case. The outcome of its appeal against the High Court decision is due to be announced on August 5.
The Malaysian government ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1995 and amended its constitution in 2001 to enshrine the principle of gender equality, but it made a reservation on matters dealing with nationality.
According to global rights group Equality Now, Malaysia is one of just 28 countries that still prevent women from passing their nationality to their children on an equal basis with men. A United Nations report (PDF) said such laws reflect the patriarchal view that fathers should have priority rights over their children in a marriage.
For decades, Malaysian mothers have had to rely on Article 15(2) of the constitution – which allows anyone under the age of 21 to apply for citizenship, as long as one parent is Malaysian – to try to secure citizenship for their children born abroad.