UUM Journal of Legal Studies, 13, No. 1 (January) 2022, pp: 345–380 stateless and refugee children are not differentiated clearly in legal terms.8 Unlike other research that have discussed stateless children in a general manner, Lumayang (2017, pp.192-210) and Allerton (2014, pp. 26-34) have highlighted that the stateless children were undocumented and at times have been classified as part of the refugee population. In light of the above mentioned reasons and in the absence of policies and laws to explain the definition of stateless children or people, there seem to be some misunderstanding among the government officials. Problems pertaining to the actual meaning of stateless children, the differences and overlap between stateless and refugee children9 remain. The following were some of the statements and responses that were given by several officers and NGOs who were interviewed: “So far there is no stateless children are often known as refugee children or undocumented children in Malaysia”. “We do not have any specific or clear definition of stateless children, so usually we identify the refugee or any undocumented child as stateless, they are almost the same”. Based on the interviews with the respondents from selected government departments and NGOs, it seemed to suggest that the understanding of the meaning of stateless children seemed vague among even the major stakeholders concerned with the issue at hand. (iii) Overlaps Between the Meaning of Stateless and Refugee Children There is often a lack of understanding on the meaning of refugees, asylum seekers and stateless children among members of civil society, 8 9 Malaysia is not a member of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status Refugees (UNHCR, 2013). Research findings via personal communication (written and telephone conversations) with officials from the National Registration Department (NRD) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) & Research findings via interviews with the selected government officials from the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), Ministry of Education (MOE), National Security Council (Majlis Keselamatan Negara, MKN) (Sabah), Social Welfare Departments (Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, (JKM) (Sabah and Putrajaya). 354