To some, the Sama-Bajau’s plight is a cost of preserving borders in South-East Asia. In truth, the stateless condition of some 1m water-dwellers in Malaysia is a national disgrace
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThe death notice is the first time that Aminrati has assumed a documented identity, an irony not lost on Bilbayati . Father and son hail from a set of indigenous groups who live on boats or in villages of stilt-houses connected by rickety walkways, spread along the coasts of Borneo, the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines, and the islands of eastern Indonesia.
To scientists, Sama-Bajau are notable for their larger spleens full of oxygen-bearing blood, evolved for staying underwater for longer. To themselves, by far their most notable feature is their statelessness. Though they have plied the region’s seas for centuries, they are not citizens of any adjacent country.
For those living in Sabah today, the effects of statelessness are profound. Medical treatment in Malaysia is nearly free to citizens. But as a “foreigner”, even though he was born in Sabah, Bilbayati now owes the hospital 4,000 ringgit for his late son’s admission. Bajau children are denied state schooling. On tiny Omadal island in north-east Sabah, Jefri Musa runs a stilt-house school for 34 Bajau kids, supported by an, in the teeth of bureaucratic resistance.
Yet their evasion is perfectly rational. Bitter experience teaches Sama-Bajau not to engage with the authorities unless strictly necessary. Unscrupulous officials prey upon their desire for legality, often demanding bribes for temporary permits and passes. Worse, Sama-Bajau face arbitrary incarceration, including in camps for illegal migrants. When police visited Omadal in search of a stolen boat, the father of one of Mr Musa’s students instinctively fled.
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