The right to nationality and the constitutional protection for stateless persons in Malaysia

Abstract

Statelessness is a real issue in Malaysia, yet it receives sluggish attention from the government. This thesis, which employs doctrinal legal research methodology, investigates the underlying legal frameworks that trigger statelessness. In this regard, analysis is made to the relevant concept of international law concerning the state, nationality or citizenship, and the principle of the reserved domain that circumlocutorily leads to the creation of statelessness. The study reveals that the dead-end suffered by stateless persons at the international level requires the attention of human rights initiatives, leading to the inception of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention of Reduction of Statelessness. Nevertheless, Malaysia is non-signatory to both conventions. The discussion investigates the application of Part III of the Federal Constitution regarding the acquisition of Malaysian citizenship and the grounds for the failure to acquire Malaysian citizenship, which may cause one to become a stateless person de facto. The human rights protection analysis for stateless persons in Malaysia lingers around the provisions of the Federal Constitution and the Malaysian government's initiatives. The study reveals that the stringent compliance to many procedural requirements has plunged many unfortunate individuals into the situation of statelessness. Discriminatory provisions in citizenship law complicate the citizenship acquisition for children born to a Malaysian woman and a foreign father outside the jurisdiction. The citizenship law also disallows children born outside wedlock to Malaysian fathers and foreign Mothers to inherit paternal citizenship even if they are born within the Malaysian territory. The study recommends reforming the discriminatory provisions of citizenship law and the policy for determining and recognising stateless status. The study limits its focus on examining in-situ statelessness and exclude the study of refugees statelessness and statelessness in the migratory context.