JOHOR BARU: All children born to Malaysian parents abroad must be accorded the right to citizenship in this country, says Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar.

       The Sultan urged the Federal Government to abort its plans to appeal the recent High Court decision allowing citizenship rights to children born overseas, regardless if the Malaysian parent is the father or mother.

       "The sanctity of the court must be upheld. Why discriminate against Malaysian mothers with overseas-born children?

       "This is a basic right of every child, irrespective of whether the Malaysian parent is the father or the mother.

       "It doesn’t feel right that Malaysian fathers and mothers are viewed differently in the eyes of the law concerning their child’s citizenship. Are Malaysian mothers less Malaysian than Malaysian fathers?” he said in a statement posted on Facebook here on Saturday (Sept 18).

       The Sultan said in the spirit of the "Malaysian Family", the Attorney General should immediately withdraw the appeal against the court decision.

       "Now is the time to embrace, welcome and nurture them as Malaysians, not to reject and turn them away. Such a policy is fundamentally flawed," he said.

       It was reported on Monday (Sept 13) that the government had appealed the High Court ruling on Sept 9, which gave Malaysian women the same right as Malaysian men to confer automatic citizenship on their overseas-born children.