1. Reported Stateless Persons
Malaysia has the third largest reported stateless population in the Southeast Asia sub-region, reporting 115,169 stateless persons to UNHCR in 2022. The reported stateless population has steadily increased in the last 5 years. UNHCR outlines that this figure comprises 103,380 stateless Rohingya in Malaysia along with 9,040 non-displaced stateless persons in West Malaysia ‘who may be entitled to Malaysian nationality under the law.’ In February 2023, the Home Minister stated that based on statistics from 2013 to 2023, there are 132,272 applications nationwide to become Malaysian citizens.
2. Persons at Risk of Statelessness
A number of groups at risk of or affected by statelessness have been recognized in Malaysia, including persons who have resided in Malaysia since pre-independence as well as their descendants (including individuals of Tamil ethnicity), children of mixed-nationality marriages (through the impact of gender discriminatory nationality laws), indigenous persons (including mobile maritime populations and Orang Asli communities), refugees and irregular migrants (and their children) in Sabah East Malaysia, as well as persons lacking documentation and foundling children.
3. Stateless Refugee
In 2022, of the 115,169 reported stateless persons, 103,380 were stateless Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. While previously welcomed and supported by Malaysia, the Rohingya population has never gained full protection due to Malaysia not being a party to the Refugee Convention and its protocol, and in recent years have faced discrimination, arrest, detention, and boat pushbacks.
4. Undetermined Nationalities
In March 2022, the Chief Minister of Sabah announced that 810,443 residents of Sabah are non-citizens. This figure is almost double the UNHCR 2019 estimate of 450,000 stateless persons in Sabah. Most of this population has lived in Sabah for multiple generations yet lacks documentary proof of their connection to their country of origin (the Philippines and Indonesia). It is unclear whether this population is stateless or entitled to citizenship of either Malaysia, the Philippines, or Indonesia.
| Country | 2019 (year start) | 2020 (year end) | 2021 (year end) | 2022 (year end) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | 108,332 | 111,289 | 112,420 | 115,169 |
Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022
