World Children’s Day makes Malaysian mothers sad: “Citizenship laws unfairly take away happy childhoods”
(Petaling Jaya, 20th) World Children’s Day is a happy holiday for children, but it is particularly sad for Malaysian mothers who have long been fighting for the citizenship rights of their children born overseas. They feel sorry for their children because of unfair citizenship laws. However, they cannot enjoy a happy childhood like other children and have basic rights such as education and medical care.
Malaysian mother Huang Xiaoping said that due to unfair citizenship laws, many children living in Malaysia face unstable living conditions and cannot live with peace of mind.
“Children at an early age should enjoy a time of love and security, not go through periods of vulnerability.”
Today, on International Children’s Day, my heart aches for innocent lives trapped in the shadows of statelessness, victims of unequal citizenship laws. Every child deserves a nation’s warmth, the security of a legal identity, and a future free from needless suffering pic.twitter.com/p92Kolx2AQ
— Rachel #sayaJUGAanakMalaysia (@2ndClssCtzn_Not) November 20, 2023
In a post on social media X today, she emphasized that every child should have the protection of legal identity and the right to be free from unnecessary pain and distress in the future.
“My heart aches for the innocent lives lost to statelessness, the victims of unequal citizenship laws.”
Huang Xiaoping pointed out that unfair laws not only deprive these children of their nationality, but also deprive them of the opportunity to receive education, medical care and live a fear-free life.
She urged the government to amend the constitution as soon as possible to drive changes in citizenship rights to ensure that no child falls victim to statelessness and to create a future for them free from discrimination.
“A citizenship for a child is not a privilege, but a future of basic rights.”
Huang Xiaoping emphasized that if the government does not take positive actions, it will bring endless suffering to the children of current and future generations, and it will also deeply affect the future of the country.
In conjunction with #internationalchildrensday we urge the government to protect the non-citizen overseas born children of Malaysian mothers. pic.twitter.com/nd7RJ9ihpN
— Family Frontiers #sayaJUGAanakMalaysia (@FamilyFrontiers) November 20, 2023
In addition, she also bluntly stated that the government should focus on promoting the amendment of Article 14(1) of the Constitution, that is, as long as one of the parents is a Malaysian citizen, children born overseas can automatically obtain citizenship, and prevent other Regressive Civil Rights Amendment.
“No child should be denied the opportunity to pursue their dreams, learn and contribute to society because of the circumstances of their birth.”
In addition, Family Front also issued a statement on International Children’s Day: “We urge the government to protect the children of Malaysian mothers born overseas and not to ignore their voices.”
Earlier, the government agreed to amend the constitution to allow children born overseas to Malaysian mothers to automatically acquire citizenship, but five other controversial retrogressive bills were also included.
Therefore, citizen groups opposed this bundled constitutional amendment and suggested that the government separate the two amendments.
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This news article has been translated from the original language to English by WorldsNewsNow.com.
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