In Semporna, a district in Sabah, Malaysia, there has been an ongoing issue of stateless children being denied access to public education. Statelessness arises because these children do not have proper citizenship documentation from Malaysia or their parents’ countries of origin. This lack of legal status severely limits their access to basic services.
To enroll in public schools in Malaysia, children are generally required to have proper identification, such as a birth certificate or MyKad (Malaysian identity card). Stateless children, lacking these documents, are denied the right to formal education. They often come from economically marginalized families, making it difficult for them to access private education or other alternatives, further perpetuating the cycle of poverty and exclusion.