CONSORTIUM HEROES I FAMILY FRONTIERS – FIGHTING FOR EQUAL NATIONALITY RIGHTS IN MALAYSIA Family Frontiers (FF) was initially established as the Foreign Spouses Support Group (FSSG) in 2009 by two non-citizen mothers who experienced insurmountable difficulties in raising their Malaysian children within the country. Since 2015, they expanded their advocacy to also combat Malaysia’s gender discriminatory nationality law and support Malaysian women who could not pass their citizenship to their children born abroad. Scoping and Action Awards (EUR 25,000) READ MORE ON COVID-19 The project aimed to address challenges faced by Malaysian binational families IMPACTS IN MALAYSIA HERE caused by gender discriminatory nationality laws. The issues included family separation, unequal citizenship rights of Malaysian women and their overseasborn children, access to COVID-19 vaccines, risk of arbitrary arrests and detention of non-citizen spouses and increased socioeconomic marginalisation due to restrictions to employment and xenophobic sentiments. Project objectives included: • Using project research findings to develop and disseminate materials and tools to increase awareness on the unique challenges faced by Malaysian binational families during COVID-19. • Diversifying support streams and accessibility to information among the beneficiary community. • Conducting targeted advocacy of key stakeholders, through strategic litigation and other methods. Impact • • Successful strategic litigation before the Kuala Lumpur High Court, supporting the cases of six Malaysian mothers on the issue of unequal citizenship rights. Family Frontiers won the case, with the judge ruling in September 2021 that the word ‘father’ in the impugned provision is to include the mother. As a result, the children of the plaintiffs and other women in a similar situation would be entitled to citizenship by ‘operation of law’. The landmark case led to widespread, nationwide discourse and support on the issue. Key ministers (including the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, de-facto Law Minister and Minister of Communications), and various Members of Parliament from both sides of the floor stated their public support for equal citizenship rights of Malaysian women. The Home Minister and Law Minister also announced their commitment to a Constitutional amendment on the matter. However, the government appealed and in August 2022, the Court of Appeal, in a 2:1 decision, overruled the High Court. FF has now appealed to the Federal Court, which (at the time of writing) is yet to hear the case. • Successfully advocating against the detention (and deportation) of two non-citizen spouses, which were both ruled unlawful by the Courts, which ordered their release. • Successful engagement with the Malaysian government, leading to an agreement to allow foreign spouses to return to the country, resulting in hundreds of family reunifications since June 2020. This included successfully advocating for: • Non-citizen spouses and their children to renew or apply for visas and permits without having to leave the county; • Non-citizen spouses and their children (including those withou LTSVP) to enter Malaysia upon approval from Immigration; • The setting up of a systematic online application portal for non-citizen spouses and children of Malaysians to appeal to enter or exit Malaysia; and • The reduction of quarantine requirements for noncitizen spouses in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak who had already undergone quarantine in west Malaysia. Initiating conversations and campaigns on access to vaccinations for non-citizens. Future Plans FF is now working to build public and bipartisan support for a Constitutional amendment to concretise the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision by engaging as many MPs, political parties and cabinet members as possible and amplifying campaign messaging and content to increase public discourse and pressure on the issue of equal citizenship. FF is also taking forward the appeal to the Federal Court. With sustained financial support, FF will be able to lead these efforts in collaboration with other partners in Malaysia and globally. 11