KUALA LUMPUR — The Court of Appeal today unanimously decided that two persons who were born in Malaysia are not entitled to be Malaysian citizens under the Federal Constitution, as their biological Malaysian fathers were not married to their non-Malaysian mothers when they were born.

Court of Appeal judge Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli, who chaired a three-judge panel, said the High Court was correct in deciding to reject their bid to be recognised and declared as Malaysians.

Azhahari ultimately concluded that the Kuala Lumpur-born woman (identified only as J for privacy purposes) has to follow her Indonesian biological mother’s citizenship, and that the man born in Teluk Intan, Perak (identified only as D) has to follow his Filipino mother’s citizenship.

Both J’s and D’s biological non-Malaysian mothers have disappeared from their lives since they were young, and both had studied and lived in Malaysia their whole lives while being raised by their Malaysian fathers.

Here’s a quick recap of the facts in their cases based on court documents, and what the Court of Appeal decided today:

J, who will be turning 30 this year, has a DNA test to show her biological ties to her Malaysian father.

Her Malaysian father has been caring for her since young, as her Indonesian mother had ran off and been uncontactable since she was three.

J’s initial birth certificate in 1996 was issued without stating her citizenship status, as this was not part of birth certificates’ format then.

J’s second birth certificate issued in 2004 in an updated format states that she is a Malaysian, and she was issued a Malaysian passport in 2006.

But when her father applied for her Malaysian identity card when she turned 12, J’s birth certificate was amended to show her status as “non-citizen” as her parents were unmarried at the time of her birth.