UUM Journal of Legal Studies, 13, No. 1 (January) 2022, pp: 345–380 their livelihood despite the possibilities of raids and the threat of also being deported themselves (Lumayag, 2016. p.199). d. Some of these children were left to fend for themselves due to the absence of their guardians or parents, and upon their detention for various offences, incarcerated pending trial, or eventually repatriated to the southern Philippines (Lumayag, 2016, pp.199). e. The Sama Dilaut (who are also known as the Bajau Laut) undocumented children have remained in poverty. These children were descendants of refugees who had fled from southern Philippines in the 1970s due to the Islamic insurgency. They settled in Sabah as undocumented non-citizens without having their data in the national statistics and were rendered invisible for external developmental aid. Such invisibility has prevented the Sama Dilaut children from benefiting from the welfare aid provided by the State and Federal Government, despite the agenda’s mandate to address inequality and poverty, both in the region and globally (Lumayag, 2016 & Allerton, 2014). In Sabah, the children of the Filipino and Indonesian descendants, as well as the Sama Dilaut were frequently known as the children of other ‘irregular’ and vulnerable groups, which included undocumented migrants, people of refugee descent, and ‘street children’. These children also became a target for the authorities during raids and security operations by the Immigration authorities (Lumayag, 2016, pp.198-199 & Allerton, 2014, p.4). In contrast, there has been many children in Peninsular Malaysia at risk of statelessness because their parents did not have a marriage registration certificate, or a birth certificate of their child. A child with one parent who is a Malaysian citizen, but has no birth registration is also often at risk of statelessness. Although parent(s) could pursue efforts to acquire documentation from the relevant authorities, they often failed to do so due to ignorance, fear of legal repercussions or lack of awareness of the importance of birth documentation (Lumayag, 2016, p.199). In addition, Malaysia and several other countries seem to overlook the differences between stateless and refugee children. Currently, 353