Morocco, Kenya and Sri Lanka, that successfully implemented retroactive amendments on equal nationality rights. The non-retroactive aspect of this amendment leaves many Malaysian mothers who have been awaiting their children’s citizenship for decades now in a state of disparage, especially impacting children without existing applications and those above the age of 18 who can no longer apply, some whose mothers have passed away. As such, the Government must establish meaningful and timely pathways to citizenship for the children who would be excluded, ensuring they are protected. Other gender-discriminatory citizenship provisions also remain unaddressed by the bill, including the inability of Malaysian women to confer nationality on their foreign spouses on an equal basis with men, and the inability of children born out of wedlock to Malaysian fathers to obtain Malaysian citizenship. Nonetheless, this amendment is a significant step toward achieving greater equality in nationality laws between men and women, bringing Malaysia closer in line with several international human rights treaties, including Article 9(2) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (“CEDAW”), which obliges States to guarantee women equal rights to confer nationality to their children. However, for true gender equality in line with Article 9 CEDAW to apply, the outstanding issues highlighted above need to be addressed. Ensuring comprehensive gender equal nationality laws is critical to eradicating statelessness, and we urge the Malaysian government to build on this important first step, and commit to eradicating all gender discrimination in its nationality laws, policies and practices, for all people. 2. REMOVAL OF THE ABILITY OF CHILDREN BORN TO MALAYSIAN PERMANENT RESIDENTS (“PR”) FROM GAINING AUTOMATIC CITIZENSHIP At present, children born in the country to Malaysian Permanent Residents are able to automatically acquire Malaysian citizenship. If enacted, this Bill would remove the children’s ability to access automatic citizenship. They would instead be subject to a discretionary application process. This may impact thousands of individuals with genuine ties to Malaysia, who were born in and have lived their entire lives in the country. This group consists of vulnerable populations including the indigenous community of Malaysia (Orang Asli and Orang Asal), and people who moved to Malaysia prior to its Independence in 1957 and did not obtain Malaysian citizenship due to illiteracy and lack of awareness. This provision would take away a crucial safeguard against statelessness and would contribute to intergenerational statelessness—a cycle of statelessness handed down from one generation to another—in the event a child is born to statelessness parents with Malaysian PR status. Further, it will be the root of a future societal challenge, depriving them of their basic rights and the ability to economically, socially and politically participate as equal citizens of their own country. This unnecessary regression will move Malaysian law into direct contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular, its Articles 2 (non-discrimination), 3 (best interests of the child), 7 (right to nationality and avoidance of statelessness) and 8 (identity).