KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 16 -- Advocacy group Family Frontiers has welcomed the government's announcement that a constitutional amendment granting automatic citizenship to children born abroad to Malaysian mothers will be implemented by mid-2026, but is urgently calling for a solution for adult children left behind by the change.

While celebrating the progress, the group highlighted the plight of individuals who have already "aged out" of the system.

Because the new amendment is not retrospective, it does not apply to those who have already turned 21, leaving them in a state of legal limbo.

Family Frontiers said many of these individuals were born at a time when there was no formal pathway for Malaysian mothers to confer citizenship.

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