Being and not being Filipino: children of refugees, Muslim belonging and multiple refusals in Sabah, Malaysia

The experience of children of Muslim Filipinos in Sabah provides an intriguing case study for understanding “refugeeness” and children’s identities in protracted situations of displacement. For complex historical, political and social reasons, these children both are and are not Filipino. Their families assert a cultural citizenship across political borders, while Sabahans stigmatize Filipino and refugee identities. The children themselves foreground their identity as Muslim, allowing them to assert a form of place-belonging that is not recognized by many Sabahans. The article theorizes these assertions and denials through the concept of refusal, arguing that in this context refusal takes multiple, competing forms.