In Malaysia, there are four main groups of people who are described as either stateless or at risk of statelessness: Rohingya refugees from Burma, Malaysians of Indian descent, members of the traditionally nomadic, boat-dwelling Bajau Laut/ Sama Dilaut community, and the children of refugees and migrants in Sabah, north Borneo. A glance at many advocacy publications on statelessness shows that children of migrants in Sabah are frequently mentioned as an example of a stateless population.3 However, determining the precise legal status of many of these children is in fact extremely complicated, as I myself am only just beginning to discover.