CONTESTATIONS OVER MALAYSIAN CITIZENSHIP AND THE PRELIMINARY CASE FOR RECOGNISING THE STATELESS BAJAU LAUT COMMUNITY

Abstract

The discussion below revisits the perennial problem of illegal immigration in the Malaysian state of Sabah that has for more than a decade now stood as an internationally recognised case study of how countries sometimes prefer illegal immigrants over their own citizens. This article therefore discusses the process by which the Malaysian Federal Government acceded to public requests for the institution of an inquiry into the issue of illegally obtained citizenship in Sabah. Important questions remain unanswered, however, leading to the incredulity of researchers and activists. This situation has been further exacerbated by the 2013 intrusion of a group of armed southern Filipinos into a coastal village in eastern Sabah. The article therefore goes on to discuss how the ensuing conflict between these vigilantes and the Malaysian Government impacted upon and, indeed, further weakened the foundations of Malaysian nationality. Under the current circumstances, do not even local officials now believe that at least some of these undocumented persons possess the right to residence or even citizenship in Sabah, Malaysia? We present a preliminary discussion of the case for citizenship for a de jure stateless community known as the Bajau Laut.