Human Rights And Statelessness I N P E N I N S U L AR M AL AYS I A J. Duraisingam, 2016a). Other groups of stateless refugees in Malaysia include Palestinian and Syrian persons. Refugees in Malaysia live in extremely vulnerable situations with no access to employment, education, and healthcare. Obtaining refugee status and access to basic services in Malaysia is difficult as Malaysia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention (Liew, 2019). Children born to stateless refugees in Malaysia are at an increased risk of statelessness because Malaysian citizenship is tied to their parents’ nationality. Therefore, if their parents are non-citizens, they will also be automatically classified as non-citizens (Rodziana Mohamed Razali et. al., 2015). A child’s right to a nationality is not guaranteed in Malaysia because a child’s citizenship is subject to their parents’ nationality, immigration status, and marriage status. Children born to refugees have limited access to birth registration because of the high hospital fees that refugees have to pay and refugee mothers’ fear of being detained upon giving birth (Mayberry, 2014). Children of stateless refugees are also denied access to formal education and depend on alternative learning centres run by NGOs and UNHCR (Rodziana Mohamed Razali et. al., 2015). Some stateless refugees may qualify for Malaysian citizenship due to having lived in Malaysia for a long time but it is not automatic and they must apply for citizenship by registration or naturalisation. However, due to the strict requirements of the naturalisation process, it is very difficult for refugees to access Malaysian citizenship through this pathway, leaving very limited options to qualify for and obtain Malaysian citizenship (Liew, 2019). Azimah, born to refugee Cambodian Muslim parents in Malaysia, failed to acquire citizenship by operation of law, despite her parents and siblings successfully obtaining citizenship through naturalisation (“In Court, Woman Born to Muslim Refugee Parents”, 2021). 40