“If the proposed amendments receive royal assent, it will be tabled during the third meeting of Parliament which begins on Oct 9,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.

Saifuddin said there are eight proposed constitutional amendments that seek to provide a comprehensive solution to the longstanding issue of citizenship in Malaysia.

Apart from automatic citizenship to children born to Malaysian women overseas with foreign spouses, the other amendments are to clauses and articles in the Federal Constitution relating to statelessness and unregistered births.

‘Don’t be too rigid in processing citizenship applications’

Roy Angau Gingkoi (GPS-Lubok Antu) said he hoped the national registration department (JPN) would not be too rigid in processing citizenship applications from rural Sarawakians.

He said some Sarawakians living in the rural areas have had their permanent residency and citizenship applications rejected by authorities who have found it difficult to trace the applicants since they are from the nomadic Penan tribe.

Angau said there were also applicants who would only visit the urban areas once in a few months.

He welcomed the recommendation by Fatimah Abdullah, Sarawak’s minister for women, early childhood and community well-being development, that the state be given autonomy to issue citizenship to rural children.

“Give the (powers) to Sarawak to solve these citizenship issues swiftly so that they (children) are not deprived of their right to healthcare and education,” he said.