Human Rights And Statelessness I N P E N I N S U L AR M AL AYS I A person owning a birth certificate, as the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 requires the birth to be registered before citizenship by operation of law can take effect (Tamara J. Duraisingam et. al., 2020). In the case of Kalwant Kaur a/p Rattan Singh v Kementerian Dalam Negeri Malaysia & Anor (1993), the Johor Bahru High Court held that Kalwant met the requirements of citizenship by operation of law under Article 14(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution, read with Article 124(1)(c)(ii) of the Federation of Malaya Agreement. This is because the High Court recognised that Kalwant’s father qualified as a British subject at the time of her birth and later became a permanent resident in Perak and that she was born in Perak, one of the territories of the Federation. However, for those born after Malaysia Day (post 16 September 1963), they can only qualify for citizenship by operation of law under Article 14(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution, read together with the provisions of Sections 1(a) to (e) Part II of the Second Schedule, which relies on the jus sanguinis rule of citizenship. To qualify for Malaysian citizenship by operation of law for those born after Malaysia Day, a person must prove their linkage via their parents’ nationality and marriage status. It becomes more challenging for Indian children to acquire Malaysian citizenship under these provisions because of the prevalence of customary (unregistered) marriages within their respective communities. In the case of Nalan a/l Kunji Kanan & Anor. v Secretary General of Ministry of Home Affairs, Malaysia & Ors. (2017), the High Court held that Nalan did not meet the qualifications under Article 14(1)(b) and Section 1(a), Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution, since Nalan is considered “illegitimate” at the time of birth because of his parents’ unregistered marriage. The High Court relied on decisions that qualified the word “parent” in Article 14 as referring to a lawful parent, as in the cases of Pendaftar Besar Kelahiran Dan Kematian Malaysia v Pang Wee See & Anor. (2017) and Foo Toon Aik (suing on his own behalf and as representative of Foo Shi Wen, child) v Ketua Pendaftar Kelahiran Dan Kematian, Malaysia (2012). Statelessness is typically intergenerational and inherited amongst persons with long-standing residence since pre-independence and their 72