Proposed tweaks to citizenship laws ‘most regressive’ in decades
KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — The National Human Rights Commission today again urged the government not to press ahead with the proposed amendments of constitutional provisions regarding citizenship, in a rare press conference held to warn policymakers of the immense harm the changes could do to children.
The urgent caution came after the commission submitted a 19-paged memorandum to all House of Representative members and the Conference of Rulers yesterday, which detailed why the amendments should not be granted passage as it called on Putrajaya to hold more talks with experts first before bulldozing through the Bill.
“This can be a serious setback for human rights. This are the most regressive proposed amendments (to the Constitution) in the last 50 to 60 years,” said Ragunath Kesavan, former Bar Council president and current Suhakam chief commissioner.
