Malaysians won’t lose citizenship for voting in UK’s EU referendum, lawyers say

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Malaysians who voted in the United Kingdom’s (UK) historic referendum on the European Union (EU) yesterday do not have to worry about losing their citizenship here, lawyers said.

They said Article 24(2) of the Federal Constitution, which states that Malaysian citizenship may be deprived if a Malaysian exercises any right in another country that are “accorded exclusively” to that country’s citizens, did not apply because voting in the EU referendum was open to Commonwealth citizens.

“Voting in the UK is open to all Commonwealth citizens, so Malaysians voting in the UK are not exercising a right exclusive to citizens of the UK. Article 24 therefore does not apply,” lawyer Andrew Yong told Malay Mail Online.

Lawyer New Sin Yew made similar remarks when asked if Malaysians who cast their ballots in yesterday’s referendum, which saw Britain voting by 52 per cent to leave the EU, risked losing their citizenship.

“Of course not,” New told Malay Mail Online. “You don’t need to be a UK citizen to vote”.

Two Malaysians living in the UK who voted Remain expressed worry about tighter immigration rules.

“I felt disappointed about the results because I feel the Leave campaign was deliberately appealing to the xenophobia and narrow-minded cross-section of the population.

“Also, their campaign was rather disingenuous. It seems like they are trying to achieve a particular outcome with no clear idea once they arrived at their target,” a 29-year-old Malaysian health care professional told Malay Mail Online on condition of anonymity for fear of an anti-immigration backlash in her area that voted Leave.

She also related an anecdote about a Caucasian customer in his 60s who told her three days ago that he didn’t mean to be racist, but “a million Turks are waiting to come in”.

According to the young Malaysian, who has been living in England for four years, her customer also told her: “These Muslim men marry young children”.

US paper the New York Times reported today that immigration anxieties — as membership in the EU allows for free movement of people, goods and services throughout the bloc — had defined and likely swung the Leave campaign that was sometimes marred with xenophobia and what some critics considered racism.

A 46-year-old Malaysian freelance writer who lives in Manchester, which voted Remain, said he was worried about the immediate future.

“I’m a freelance writer; I hope work won’t dry up,” he told Malay Mail Online, adding that he had voted for the UK to stay in the EU.

“I hadn’t quite anticipated the results. I thought people would chicken out last minute and vote to stay in. But I guess the British take pride in thinking of themselves as different,” he added, requesting anonymity.

A 42-year-old gay Malaysian teacher turned health and fitness coach, who lives near Manchester and received his PR last year after marrying his British partner, said he voted Leave and that his area had voted the same way, as well as his friends and family.

“I voted out sebab When I wanted to migrate ke sini, sebab I bukan EU citizen, I kena went through all sorts of paper work(75 pages!)... and macam2 documents/papers to prove macam2 before I am granted a visa to stay…”

“If you are an EU citizen, asal ada passport je, boleh trus masuk an pindah sini/kerja/or anything... So if UK is out of EU, EVERYONE yang nak masuk UK to migrate/live will have to go through the same process... Hence, yes, it’s the result that I wanted... semua orang will be equal when it comes to nak masuk UK…,” he told Malay Mail Online in a mixture of Malay and English, requesting anonymity.

[Translation: I voted out because when I wanted to migrate here, because I wasn’t an EU citizen, I had to go through all sorts of paperwork (75 pages!)...and all sorts of documents/ papers to prove all sorts of things before I am granted a visa to stay…

If you are an EU citizen, as long as you have a passport, you can straight away move here/ work/ or anything... so if UK is out of EU, EVERYONE who wants to enter UK to migrate/ live will have to go through the same process... Hence, yes, it’s the result that I wanted... everyone will be equal when it comes to wanting to enter the UK.]

UK daily the Guardian reported that most of the UK voted for Leave, while London, Scotland, university towns and many other big cities voted for Remain.

Derek Kok, a 24-year-old Malaysian student at King’s College London who voted Remain, expressed concern about the impact of Britain pulling out from the EU on academia in the UK, such as a brain drain of European staff who comprise a large proportion of faculty.

“Basically, I think the academic quality of the UK universities may be affected,” Kok, who is doing a Master’s in law, told Malay Mail Online.

“The EU also gives out a lot of funding for research. It will affect my decision to do my PhD in the UK. I am also worried about anti-immigration sentiments further worsening, especially for minorities of colour,” he added.

from Malay Mail Online | All http://ift.tt/28UaGsG

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