COMMENT | Inhumane treatment of stateless Bajau Laut

COMMENT | The plight of those who are stateless in Malaysia has been a long and unending humanitarian crisis.

The neglect and inhumane treatment of the stateless community in Malaysia is exemplified by the predicament of the Bajau Laut in Sabah.

I read with heartbreak and tears the way these four women and their children, described in a Malaysiakini article, were denied their basic rights, abused, and victimised by the system.

But I was not surprised. I have often heard of such inhumane treatment of the Bajau Laut and other stateless communities from my fellow doctors working in Sabah and from NGOs working with the Bajau Laut.

Routine and basic antenatal and child healthcare for these stateless people are placed financially out of their reach...