On the island of Sibuan there is a small village of sea gipsies, stateless people with no nationality. There are 107 men, women and children, living in a small village consisting of houses on stilts. There are no shops, no schools, no doctors. I don't dare to imagine what happens when one baby or child gets seriously sick. While on the island I noticed for instance a mother holding a newborn baby who had serious breathing difficulties.
The children and other people born here should technically be Malaysian nationals, because they were born on Malaysian territory, but there is no birth registration office and people have no ID cards, therefore they officially do not exist and have no nationality. I'm also told that they are nomads, who travel from island to island from time to time.
01 Houses on stilts 02 Houses on stilts 03 Houses on stilts 04 Houses on stilts and boats
05 Island village and coconut trees 06 Boat with fishing sea gipsies 07 Boat with fishing sea gipsies 08 Boat with fishing sea gipsies
09 Boat and island 10 Young girl on beach
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