From Hartini Zainudin
Yesterday, 15 people were convicted in Kuala Lumpur for providing false information related to the registration of children’s births and using such birth certificates to apply for identity cards.
This matter should have been called what it is — baby-selling.
The case should have sparked a national reckoning about baby-selling and child trafficking in Malaysia.
Instead, what we are seeing is the state continuing a deeply punitive and misguided practice —threatening or revoking the citizenship and identity of the children involved.
These children are in truth the victims of a trafficking network that included adults and professionals, and was a result of gaps in enforcement.
This is not just document fraud – it is trafficking
Child protection must take precedence over punishment. This is not just about forgery, it’s potential trafficking.
Falsifying birth registrations, particularly involving newborns and infants registered under false identities, often involves a transaction. It is an informal adoption, involving a middleman and money changing hands.
When a child is transferred outside of the legal adoption system — especially when a birth certificate is falsified to disguise that transfer — that fits the legal definition of child trafficking under:
- Article 35 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): States must take measures to prevent the abduction, sale or trafficking of children.
- The Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Atipsom): “Child trafficking” involves all means of recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receiving of a child for exploitation — which includes the falsification of identity for illegal adoption or sale.
These cases should have been handled as a criminal offence under Atipsom, with investigations into syndicates, hospitals, midwives, brokers and buyers — not reduced to a minor offence of documentation fraud.
Why are we punishing the children?
Instead of safeguarding these children, the state is considering — or in some cases has already begun — revoking birth certificates or denying MyKad renewals.
This is not just cruel; it is illegal:
- Children are not criminals.
- They had no agency in their registration.
- They did not choose to be born or transferred through fraudulent channels.
When the state revokes their status, it creates a second crime: statelessness, which violates their rights to nationality, identity, education, healthcare, protection and dignity.
Violation of the Federal Constitution
Under Article 14(1)(b), read with Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution, a child born in Malaysia, who is not the citizen of any other country, is entitled to Malaysian citizenship.
Denying this, particularly when there is no alternative nationality, is a violation of constitutional rights.
Furthermore, Article 8 guarantees equality before the law.
Children born under irregular or illegal circumstances — like trafficking or baby-selling — must be treated with care and protection, not punished or denied fundamental rights.
Hartini Zainudin is a co-founder of Yayasan Chow Kit.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
