KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 54,406 Malaysians have renounced their citizenship from 2010 until Jan 31 this year, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.
Zahid said this in a written parliamentary reply to Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (Amanah-Sepang), who also asked for the reasons given by those who had chosen to renounce their citizenship.
“The reason given for their surrender (of citizenship) is because they have chosen not to retain their Malaysian citizenship, and have obtained citizenship in other countries,” he said.
According to Zahid, in January this year alone, 1,102 Malaysians had renounced their citizenship.
A total of 11,080 Malaysians had renounced their citizenship in 2011, while another 10,644 chose not to retain their citizenship the year before.
Since then, the number of Malaysians renouncing their citizenship has reduced.
Zahid said 8,983 people gave up their Malaysian citizenship in 2012, followed by 6,678 in 2013, 7,843 in 2014 and 8,076 last year.