The Bajau people: The nomads who live in sea as they have no nationality

For centuries, the Bajau people have called the waters of the Sulu Sea their home. Famed for their exceptional freediving abilities, the Bajau are the world's last remaining community of self-sufficient sea nomads. With lungs adapted to stay submerged for up to 10 minutes at depths of 200 ft, they have evolved to thrive in the marine environment.

The Bajau's way of life is a far cry from the mainland. Rather than being tethered to a single plot of land, they crisscross the seas, their entire existence centered around the ebb and flow of the tides. Their ‘homes’ are the traditional Lansa houseboats, which they cruise with unparalleled skill, moving between the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

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But in the colonial era, the creation of modern maritime borders upended the Bajau's way of life. Suddenly, they found themselves classified as ‘irregular migrants’ or ‘stateless’ in the eyes of the law - neither fully citizens nor recognised refugees. The 1959 Malaysian Immigration Act, in particular, failed to account for the Bajau's unique circumstances, leaving them in a precarious legal limbo.

As conflict erupted in the Mindanao region in the 1970s, many Bajau families were forced to flee to the east coast of Borneo. There, they have struggled with Malaysia's bureaucratic processes, without the rights and privileges afforded to citizens. Their children are barred from public schools, and adults prohibited from formal employment.

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Today, only around 100-200 Bajau remain in their traditional Lansa settlements near the Malaysian city of Semporna. Facing dwindling resources and increasing restrictions from the local national park, even this small number is dwindling. The Bajau find themselves torn - bound to the sea that has sustained them for generations, yet increasingly forced to resettle on land as outcasts.

Out on the open waters, the Bajau embody self-sufficiency, living in harmony with the ebb and flow of the tides. But once they step onto the shore, they are relegated to the lowest rungs of society - their unique way of life at odds with the norms and expectations of the mainland. Caught between the laws that seek to constrain them and the sea that calls them home, the Bajau people now find themselves adrift, their centuries-old traditions hanging in the balance.