Homegrown Statelessness in Malaysia: The Administratively Stateless and the Promise of the Principle of Genuine and Effective Links

Who is stateless and when is a state obligated to confer nationality under international law?Using the case study of Malaysia, this paper sheds light on who are stateless and gives weight tothe international customary ‘doctrine of dominant and effective nationality’ as a factor toconsider when conferring citizenship on stateless persons in Malaysia. Six categories of statelesspersons were identified in this research project. This article posits that five of the six categoriesof stateless persons can be said to have ‘genuine and effective links’ to Malaysia suggesting thatnot all stateless persons are foreigners or migrants. The research project suggests that inexamining who are stateless, different pathways of citizenship should be conceived for them.