“We aim to advance, promote, and strengthen the family unit so that no family is left behind.“
Family Frontiers is a Malaysia-based organization that campaigns against discriminatory nationality laws in the country and provides support to those impacted by them. As a woman-led organization with a gender lens on their work, Family Frontiers highlights the laws and policies that disproportionately affect women and children in Malaysia.
Family Frontiers emphasizes the importance of representation and participation in their work and center affected populations. Their current campaigns include the Malaysian Campaign for Equal Citizenship, which supports bi-national families in their legal status applications in Malaysia. Through this initiative, Family Frontiers engages with focus populations to ensure that their advocacy efforts are informed by lived experience and highlight how women and children are impacted by unequal nationality laws in the country.
The Foreign Spouses Support Group (FSSG) is a peer support network for Malaysian bi-national families. The group assists families with a wide array of issues through their online helpdesk and public service platform. Through their case management and peer support model, they also gather information on the challenges faced by bi-national families and strengthen their advocacy efforts.
Family Frontiers was engaged in advocacy efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. They shed light on the unique challenges faced by Malaysian bi-national families during the crises. They gathered verifiable and concrete information on these challenges, which included family separation, issues with birth and marriage registration, and high quarantine charges.
Family Frontiers has produced two short films, bringing attention to the lives of those impacted by discriminatory nationality laws in Malaysia:
–Dalam Kenangan Sabeena (In memory of Sabeena): “A Malaysian mother who passed away without seeing her children become Malaysian just as she desired. She spent her whole life battling Malaysia’s discriminatory citizenship laws.”
– Yang Terlepas Pandang (The Overlooked): “Aniza and her daughter, Nadila are one of the thousands of families that have been forgotten by this government’s Keluarga Malaysia.”
Visit their website to learn more about their work: https://familyfrontiers.org/
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