32. In the landmark case of CTEB & Anor. v Ketua Pengarah Pendaftaran Negara Malaysia & Ors., the Federal Court ruled in May 2021 that an “illegitimate” child born outside Malaysia to a Malaysian biological father and a non-Malaysian mother is not entitled to become a Malaysian citizen by operation of law. 33. Additionally, Malaysian women do not have the equal right as men to confer citizenship on their foreign spouses.39 While Malaysian men can confer citizenship on their spouses after two years of residency in the country, spouses of Malaysian women can only rely on citizenship by naturalisation, which is available to any non-Malaysian and requires twelve years of residency. As part of the scheduled amendments in October 2023, the Government intends to amend this provision to tighten the existing law, while retaining the gender-discriminatory element. This would include a provision to revoke the citizenship of the foreign spouse of a Malaysian man if the marriage dissolves within two years of acquiring citizenship, with proficiency in the Malay language as an additional requirement.40 ISSUE IV. People of Indian Origin 34. People of Indian origin in Malaysia were one of the largest stateless communities in the country located primarily in West Malaysia. They are Indian persons of Tamil descent who were brought into the country in the British colonial period, during the 19th and early 20th centuries.41 They were brought to work as labourers in rubber plantations and public services and the community has since resided predominantly around rubber estates.42 Essentially, these communities were self-contained, with few incentives for them to leave the plantations and explore beyond their boundaries.43 35. Malaysia gained its independence in 1957, which entitled the communities to Malaysian citizenship. However, due to the remote location of the plantations, low literacy rates, and limited awareness about the significance of obtaining proper documentation, a considerable number of individuals of Indian-Tamil descent did not register for citizenship.44 Due to their self-isolation, the community also did not register the births of their children, leaving them with little to no proof to prove their intergenerational link to Malaysian citizenship. It was only upon the closure of these plantations that this community was forced to move to urban areas, 39 Article 15(1) of the Federal Constitution provides Malaysian men with the right to confer their citizenship by ‘registration’ to their foreign spouses provided they have resided in Malaysia for two years prior to the application. Spouses of Malaysian women can only rely on Article 19 – Citizenship by Naturalisation available to any non-citizen for which they must demonstrate residency of ten out of twelve years. 40 Lim I, ‘New Citizenship Rules Could Leave Foreigners Wed to Malaysian Men Stateless or Stuck in Abusive Marriages, Group Cautions’ MalayMail (4 July 2023) <https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2023/07/04/new-citizenship-rules-couldleave-foreigners-wed-to-malaysian-men-stateless-or-stuck-in-abusive-marriages-group-cautions/77817> accessed 10 July 2023 41 Institute of Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI). "Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 31st Session of the Universal Periodic Review, Malaysia, Third Cycle, Nov 2018.” 29 Mar. 2018. https://files.institutesi.org/UPR31_Malaysia.pdf, p.6. 42 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "Good Practices Paper - Action 1: Resolving Existing Major Situations of Statelessness." Refworld, Aug. 2022, www.refworld.org/docid/54e75a244.html, p.35 43 UNHCR. "Good Practices Paper - Action 1: Resolving Existing Major Situations of Statelessness." Refworld, Aug. 2022,https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/54e75a244.pdf, p. 36 44 Ibid. p. 35. 9