Advocacy group DHRRA urges reform after court denies citizenship to Malaysia-born children

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Civil society organisation DHRRA Malaysia has urged the government to find practical and compassionate solutions for children who remain non-citizens despite being raised solely by their Malaysian biological fathers.

The call follows the Court of Appeal ruling that such children cannot automatically inherit their fathers’ citizenship.

While acknowledging the judicial boundary and the court’s adherence to the Federal Constitution, DHRRA Malaysia stressed that policymakers reviewing citizenship laws must keep the best interests of the child as the primary consideration.

The plea follows a unanimous decision by a three-judge panel on July 22. The court found that two individuals born in Malaysia were not entitled to citizenship because their biological Malaysian fathers had not been married to their non-Malaysian mothers at the time of their birth.

The human cost of this ruling is stark. One individual, a woman identified as J, was born in Kuala Lumpur to an Indonesian mother. Another, a man identified as D, was born in Teluk Intan to a Filipino mother. In both cases, the mothers vanished from their children’s lives when they were young. Both J and D lived and studied in Malaysia their entire lives, raised entirely by their Malaysian fathers.

Despite DNA evidence confirming paternity, the court ruled that under Section 17 of the Federal Constitution’s Second Schedule, an illegitimate child’s citizenship is legally determined through the mother. The court found that neither J nor D were technically stateless, as they could, in principle, claim citizenship through their mothers.

“DHRRA Malaysia notes that Malaysia is frequently cited as one of only two countries in the world, alongside Barbados, where a biological father cannot automatically confer citizenship on a child born out of wedlock under the current legal framework,” it said in a statement.

“While we respect Malaysia’s constitutional provisions, we believe this issue deserves careful review to ensure that the law continues to uphold the best interests of the child, particularly in cases where the child is raised solely by a Malaysian father and has no meaningful connection to any other country.”

The organisation also highlighted the practical impossibility of the court’s logic. Many of these children are advised to seek citizenship through their mothers’ embassies, yet they have no meaningful ties to those countries, have never lived there, and in some cases, their mothers are undocumented or stateless.

DHRRA argued that requiring a child to seek nationality in a country where they have no family or support system is a failure of the “best interests of the child” principle.

“Children should never be penalised by circumstances beyond their control,” the group said.

DHRRA Malaysia is now calling on the government to examine these cases individually and assess them on their own merits to ensure no child is left without protection or stability.

While the group affirmed the importance of marriage registration to provide legal certainty, they insisted that a child’s right to a home should not be dictated by the decisions of adults.