Abstract
Education is a fundamental human right. Yet there remain gaps in our understanding of undocumented children in Malaysia and their vulnerabilities in education access. This study aims to describe and contextualise undocumented children in Malaysia and their access to education. We conducted a desk review and in-depth interviews with 33 key stakeholders from June 2020 to March 2021. Framework analysis was conducted. Salient themes were geographical location and legal identity in terms of citizenship and migration status. We found that the lack of legal identity and non-recognition by the State was the root cause of vulnerability, experienced uniformly by undocumented populations in Malaysia. Only undocumented children with Malaysian parents or guardians can enter public schools under the Malaysian government's 'Zero Reject Policy'. Most undocumented and non-citizen children must rely on informal education provided by alternative or community learning centres that typically lack standardised curricula, resources, and accreditation for education progression beyond primary levels. Nevertheless, as non-citizen groups are diverse, certain groups experience more privilege, while others are more disadvantaged in terms of the quality of informal education and the highest level of education accessible. In Peninsular Malaysia, a very small proportion of refugees and asylum-seekers may additionally access tertiary education on scholarships. In Sabah, children of Indonesian migrant workers have access to learning centres with academic accreditation supported by employers in plantations and the Indonesian Consulate, whereas Filipino migrants who were initially recognised as refugees are now receiving little government or embassy support. Stateless Rohingya refugees in Peninsular Malaysia and Bajau Laut children at Sabah are arguably the most marginalised and have the poorest educational opportunities at basic literacy and numeracy levels, despite the latter receiving minimal governmental education support. Implementing a rights-based approach towards education would mean allowing all children equal opportunity to access and thrive in high-quality schools.
Highlights
We describe different undocumented and non-citizen by their location in Malaysia based on our final framework (See Fig 1)
Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to nationality”[1]
We found that children with a claim to Malaysian citizenship have more educational opportunities compared to other undocumented children with minimal access to public education (See Fig 2)
Summary
The right of all children to free and compulsory education at the elementary and fundamental stages is affirmed in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1]. Crucial reservations made to Article 28 paragraph 1 (a) have excluded non-citizen children from commitments towards universal education. Most undocumented and non-citizen children are not able to enter public schools [7] and must rely on informal education in the form of alternative or community learning centres supported by civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, private donors and local communities [8,9]. Children Born To Malaysian Women Are NOT A National Threat! Malaysian mums go to court to challenge sexist nationality laws TheStar2021 May 31 [cited 2021 Sep 21].
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