Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2016/07 the estates to apply for their citizenship. Their plight was highlighted predominantly in the 1990s when over 300,000 Indians were displaced after plantations were acquired for property and township development. 20 These individuals are de facto stateless as they fulfil the nationality requirements under the Federal Constitution of Malaysia but unfortunately have not gone through the documentation process of acquiring nationality. The turn of the century saw the media highlighting the plight of the de facto stateless Indians residing in Malaysia. The government acknowledges their plight and the fact that they are principally Malaysian citizens. Efforts were made to open up special National Registration Department counters under the national registration campaign known in the Malay language as the ‘My Daftar Campaign’, first held between 19 to the 26 of February 2011. Through this campaign, 4,023 applications for citizenship were approved by the government within one year.21 3.3 The Sabah Stateless The asylum policies of the Malaysian government are also relevant to the situation faced by Sabah’s stateless. Sabah is part of Borneo Island located east of Peninsular Malaysia. Migration is not a new phenomenon in Sabah, since the Spanish conquest of the Philippines resulted in migration from the Philippines to Sabah. Nomadic ethnic groups originating from the territory and waters between Philippines and Borneo such as the Bajau, who are also known as ‘sea gypsies’, have settled at the boundaries of Sabah.22 Another group that has settled at the Sabah shores are the Suluk people that originate from the Sulu Sultanate of the Philippines. By the 16th century, the Brunei Sultanate had extended its powers to as far as Luzon, Sulu and South West Borneo. The expansion of the Brunei Sultanate, coupled the geographical landscape of Sabah with its 250 mile coastline and more than 200 islands, provided easy access into Sabah for Philippine and Indonesian citizens.23 Easy access into Sabah has given rise to the problems faced by stateless persons residing in Sabah. During the Mindanao insurgency in the Philippines under the authoritarian rule of President Marcos, migration took place from the Philippines to Sabah between 1970 and 1977. At that point in time, the migrants were considered refugees of Suluk and Bajau origin, settling in the towns of Sandakan, Tawau and Lahad Datu.24 By 1974, over 54,000 IMM13 documents were issued under Regulation 11 (10), Immigration Regulations 1963.25 This status is distinct from the refugee status provided under the 1951 Refugee Convention, but was nevertheless a step in the right direction for persons who were in fact refugees of Filipino descent. Between 1977 and 1987, UNHCR stepped in to assist with the situation in Sabah. Following the change of ruling party of Sabah’s state government in 1985, laws against illegal immigration were enforced to curb the numbers of irregular migrants coming into the country despite the fact that humanitarian obligations towards refugees who were recognized by the State government. 20 ‘Ensuring Effective Targeting of Ethnic Minorities: The Case of Low Income Malaysian Indians’, Centre for Public Policy Studies, p 7 http://www.cpps.org.my/resource_centre/Low_Income_Malaysian_Indians.pdf 21 ‘Najib Says My Dafter Campaign Organised By MIC Is Unique And Special’, http: //www.1Malaysia.com.my/news_archive/najib-says-mydaftar-campaign-organised-by-mic-is-unique-and- sepcial/ 27 Aug 2013. 22 K. Sadiq, ‘When States Prefer Non-Citizens Over Citizens: Conflict Over Illegal Immigration into Malaysia’ (2005) 49 International Studies Quarterly, p 106. 23 TENAGANITA, Acting Today for Tomorrow’s Generation, Regional Conference on Stateless / Undocumented Children In Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, 2005. 24K. Sadiq, ‘When States Prefer Non-Citizens Over Citizens: Conflict Over Illegal Immigration into Malaysia’, p 106. 25 Immigration Regulations 1963, L.N. 228/1963. 4