Landmark Citzenship Rights Ruling for Malaysian Women Clashes at Governmental Front
Landmark Citzenship Rights Ruling for Malaysian Women Clashes at Governmental Front
As of September 9th, 2021 Kuala Lumpur’s High Court *finally* ruled that Malaysian women are able to pass down citizenship rights to any of their children born overseas. Under the collaboration of 6 Malaysian women and Family Frontiers, a family support group dedicated to ensuring equal socio-economic development, the case against Malaysia’s sexist citizenship was successfully appealed. Until this landmark decision, however, only Malaysian men had this constitutional right because the Malaysian constitution excluded mothers from the legal language.
Activists for women’s rights consider the development as much-needed progress towards more equal rights for women in Malaysia. The Malaysian constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, but the citizenship law materialised as a loophole up until the new ruling. The implications, thus, are theoretically resounding; Malaysian women are empowered with greater autonomy and socioeconomic freedom for their children and themselves. Emphasis on the hypothetical, though, because how influential will this ruling turn out to be?
As we’re aware, citizenship, and the legality of rights surrounding birth, can be near-weaponised for sociopolitical control. Conferring Malaysian women the right to pass down citizenship would ideally remediate certain obstacles women face (unequal family separation rights, difficult conditions surrounding family residency, unsecure child healthcare and education services). One would think that legally confirming such rights would boost the Malaysian government’s reception amongst its constituent… and yet, Malaysia’s government has countered back on the judicial ruling.
Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin and sitting Attorney General Idrus Harun have since formed a coalition to appeal the court’s verdict. The citizenship law’s amendment hangs in limbo with a standstill between the judicial and executive branches of Malaysia’s government. Without progress from either side, it is still the Malaysian women who will bear the consequences of those who will never suffer from the same sociopolitical injustices.
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