Not all children with Malaysian birth certs get automatic citizenship

Instead, he said the child's citizenship status would be determined based on the citizenship status of his or her biological parents and their marital status during the birth of the child.

He explained that if the parents were not Malaysian citizens or permanent residents, then the child would carry the status of non-citizen of Malaysia.

"As such, being born in Malaysia and having the Malaysian Birth Certificate do not prove that the child is a Malaysian citizen," he said in a statement Friday to clarify public confusion about the citizenship status of children born in Malaysia.

He said the perception that all children born in Malaysia and in possession of a Malaysian Birth Certificate would automatically receive Malaysian citizenship was not true.

Sulaiman said each child born in this country must be registered regardless of the status of the child as stipulated under Section 7 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 (Act 299).

It is in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which stated that each birth of a child must be registered immediately without discrimination, he said.

Sulaiman said to enable other agencies to identify the citizenship status of the child through the birth certificate, the department had begun issuing different colours of Birth Certificate from July 1, 2011.

Children who are given the green-coloured Birth Certificate are citizens of Malaysia, while those given the red-coloured Birth certificate are non-citizens or unconfirmed citizenship status.