Homegrown Statelessness in Malaysia is confirmed in the definition outlined in the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (‘1954 Statelessness Convention’). 11 Third, I refer to refugees as persons who self-identify or have been identified by NGOs/advocates (including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (‘UNHCR’)) as persons who are fleeing persecution, as outlined in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (‘Refugee Convention’), 12 and persons who are fleeing torture and unusual and undeserved treatment, as outlined in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (‘Convention against Torture’). 13 I refer to migrants as persons who have themselves moved to Malaysia, which may or may not include their children. If the migrant person’s child was born in Malaysia, I do not consider the child a migrant. Finally, Indigenous persons refers to any person in Malaysia that self-identifies as belonging to the Orang Asli, Orang Ulu and the Anak Negeri peoples, ethnic minorities. While people of Malay descent are also indigenous to Malaysia, they constitute the majority of the population and are politically, economically and socially dominant and therefore are not ethnic minorities. 14 B International Legal Concept of Dominant and Effective Nationality The legal definition of statelessness is generally understood in a singular manner as encompassing a homogenous group of people who share one characteristic: they do not have citizenship whatsoever. Indeed, as the 1954 Statelessness Convention states, ‘For the purpose of this Convention, the term “stateless person” means a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law’. 15 As Carol Batchelor writes: This [definition] is concise and to the point. It defines a specific group of people, the de jure stateless, because it delineates a specific, quantifiable fact: either one is, or one is not a national by operation of a State’s law… the definition itself precludes full realization of an effective nationality because it is a technical, legal definition which can address only technical, legal problems. 16 The UNHCR Handbook on the Protection of Stateless Persons tries to resolve the conflict presented when the law appears to confer citizenship but the state implements the law in a differential manner: Where the competent authorities treat an individual as a non-national even though he or she would appear to meet the criteria for automatic acquisition of nationality under the operation of a country’s laws, it is their position rather than the letter of 11 12 13 14 15 16 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, opened for signature 28 September 1954, 360 UNTS 117 (entered into force 6 June 1960) art 1 (‘1954 Statelessness Convention’). Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, opened for signature 28 July 1951, 189 UNTS 137 (entered into force 22 April 1954) art 1(A)(2) (‘Refugee Convention’). Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, opened for signature 10 December 1984, 1465 UNTS 85 (entered into force 26 June 1987) (‘Convention against Torture’). Department of Statistics Malaysia, ‘Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristic Report 2010’ (Census Report, 5 August 2011) <https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/ctheme&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwR WVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09&bul_id=MDMxdHZjWTk1SjFzTzNkRXYzcVZjdz09>. 1954 Statelessness Convention (n 11) art 1.1. Carol A Batchelor, ‘Stateless Persons: Some Gaps in International Protection’ (1995) 7(2) International Journal of Refugee Law 232, 232. 99