Some 10,000 stateless children roam the streets of Sabah. Unless the authorities step in soon, the country may soon join its poorer neighbours in tackling exploitation of these young ones.

According to the Sabah United Chinese Women Association (Sucwa), these children are doubly vulnerable to commercial and sexual exploitation, since they do not hold documents and do not have homes or families.

"Because they are stateless, they are an easy target for manipulation," said honorary life president Christina CJ Liew in her presentation at a two-day forum in Kuala Lumpur on 'Reducing violence, harm and exploitation of children'.

"Because of their unstable lifestyle, these children have a higher chance of exposure to drugs and drug-trafficking as they are easy targets. They are also more vulnerable to sex exploitation, and usually dwell in pathetic living conditions with no proper food or shelter."

Her comments left most participants to the forum, jointly organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), at a loss for words.

While many participants had heard of commercial and sexual exploitation of children and the use of child soldiers in poorer countries in the region and elsewhere, several local speakers said there were "not even statistics" to indicate that this is a big problem in Malaysia.

Illegal immigrants

Suhakam commissioner Dr Raj Karim pointed out that it is high time that Malaysians wake up to the possibility of such incidents.

"Malaysia, fortunately, does not have an extensive problem of violence, harm and exploitation at the moment. Such things are very new to the Malaysian public and are only now being talked about and discussed," said Raj when met later.

"However, we felt that people need to know that such things can, and will, happen in this country unless we take measures to prevent it."

Liew also detailed the historical origin of the stateless street children and the conditions under which they live in such places as Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau.

Some may be children of Malaysian, Filipino or Indonesian parents who hold valid documents to live and work in Sabah, but may have either lost the relevant documents or have not been able to acquire these for themselves.

However, in most cases, their parents were illegal immigrants or stateless themselves, she said.

"Illegal immigrants who are hiding from the local authorities are not likely to register the birth of their children, either locally or in their state of origin. Thus, the problem of stateless children can be partly attributed to the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah," Liew said.

Reunification exercise

Stateless street children are doubly disadvantaged. As they have no family support , they are vulnerable not only to those who seek to exploit them but also to the law which may not recognise them either as citizens or minors.

"Because they are non-citizens with no legal documents or birth certificates, they may not even know their own age. They may be prosecuted for crimes as adults without documents to prove they are still children according to the legal definition of 'child'" said Liew.

"They do not have the benefit of legal aid and they lack public-funded protection. Hence their safety is very much compromised. Problems do not end when they grow up. Because of their lack of education and skills training, they have poor prospects of employment. And they can't own land, houses or cars like normal citizens do."

While the majority in Sabah regard stateless street children as a 'public nuisance,' Liew recommended that local and international agencies take steps to address their welfare.

"The first step is for the state economic planning unit to take into consideration both legal and illegal immigrants and their children when determining the budget allocation for the population of Sabah. The usual number cited, 2.6 million, is way too small," she said.

She said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Unicef should also help in providing education and skills training for these children.

The authorities should also expedite the registration of immigrants, including the granting of permanent residency to all qualified foreigners and their children.

Liew also suggested that a reunification exercise be jointly conducted by the governments of Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia in order to bring together children and parents who have become separated.