Provide data, proof to justify citizenship amendments – activists

In 2009, 19-year-old Diyana (not her real name) fell in love with a young man Abdul Razak (not his real name). Both lived in Sabah and couldn’t wait to get married.

That impatience may have cost her children’s future. Her first hint of trouble came from the Sabah Islamic Affairs Department which would not approve their marriage application, supposedly because she was abandoned as a child and did not have a male family member or wali to give her away.

An elderly man had adopted and raised Diyana and her sister. He passed away two years earlier.

In Islam, close male relatives are charged with giving away their female relatives’ hand in marriage.

“They told me I could use a legal wali but the procedure was a bit complicated since I had no wali, so we decided to marry in the village, culturally,” Diyana, who now lives in Klang, Selangor, told Bernama.

Her marriage to Abdul Razak, a Malaysian citizen, was no different from the marriages of other couples. They had everything a couple needed except for a document bearing the official seal of the state government recognising the marriage, effectively making their marriage invalid.

It all stems from...