Author Information
Iqbal Arpannudin, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, IndonesiaIwan Ramadhan, Universitas Tanjungpura, Indonesia
Jagad Aditya Dewantara, Universitas Tanjungpura, Indonesia
Sulistyarini, Universitas Tanjungpura, Indonesia
Yayuk Hidayah, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Abstract
This study examines the liminal legal status of Indonesian migrant children in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia, focusing on their educational challenges and the broader implications of their uncertain citizenship status. These children, born to migrant workers, often find themselves trapped between legality and illegality, without clear nationality recognition, which significantly limits their access to formal education and other essential services. Despite the palm oil industry's critical role in Malaysia's economy, which relies heavily on migrant labour, these children are systematically excluded from the formal education system. Alternative educational opportunities are provided through Community Learning Centres (CLC) run by local organisations and religious institutions, but these programmes lack formal recognition from the Malaysian government. As a result, these children often remain in a state of “semi-legal” existence, facing barriers to accessing fundamental rights such as education, healthcare, and legal protection. This paper highlights the complexity of their situation and draws on a phenomenological approach to understand the lived experiences of these children. It also examines how their social identities are shaped by their ambiguous legal status, creating a sense of marginalisation and uncertainty. The study advocates for more inclusive and culturally sensitive policies that integrate Indonesian migrant children into Malaysia's education system and safeguard their fundamental rights and urges both countries to enhance cooperation on migrant rights, education, and social protection.
Paper Information
Conference: ACE2025Stream: Education
This paper is part of the ACE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Arpannudin I., Ramadhan I., Dewantara J., Sulistyarini ., & Hidayah Y. (2026) Liminal Legality and Educational Inequality: The Long Road to Social Justice for Indonesian Migrant Children on the Sabah-Sarawak Border ISSN: 2186-5892 – The Asian Conference on Education 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 1277-1289) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2026.99
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2026.99
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