How the sea turned Malaysian nomads into bandits (8 photos)

For centuries, wandering sea tribes lived near the shores of Malaysia (but not only there, because the nomads do not know the conventional borders). Like the Mongols, but only on the water, they were more comfortable on rafts and boats than on solid land.





Teenagers of the tribe sail on business

Here, diving techniques and breath-holding training were passed down from generation to generation, they were taught to collect sea cucumbers and catch fish. At the same time, their traditional way of life has always been unnoticeable: they took only what they needed to survive, moving from reef to reef as the schools of fish migrated and giving the ecosystem time to recover.



A typical nomadic family, all tanned from the sun, water and salt

These "sea gypsies" are called Bajau Laut, with the only difference being that their trade has always been honest, there have never been traditions of theft or cheating. But now the world is changing and the sea is literally "pushing" them away.

There are not enough fish for a settlement





The house of a wandering woman

There are two reasons: overexploitation of fish stocks in Southeast Asia, plus rising sea surface temperatures and ocean acidity. Which together lead to the loss of fish habitats.

In Malaysia, in some regions, stocks of bottom demersal fish (those that live on the bottom) have decreased by 90%. And divers learned to collect and catch them from the bottom.



The migration region of these water gypsies or nomads

And since large fishing farms and fishermen with trawlers and modern equipment are taking away the fishing grounds from the nomads, the Bajau Laut are in a panic looking for how to adapt and not change their centuries-old way of life. They are simply afraid to "go ashore".



They sell their goods to "semi-aquatic" villages that stand on stilts

That's why they started buying fish bombs. This is a kind of dynamite to stun fish, which costs 15 Malaysian ringgits, and one blow is enough to float up to 3,000 ringgit worth of fish.

Which, of course, is poaching and only ruins the region even faster. Because of such bombs, 68% of the coral reefs of Malaysian Borneo have been damaged.

Nobody's Nation



During low water it becomes clear why there are no bottom fish along the shore anymore...

Despite the fact that many Bajau Laut in Semporna have lived in the region for decades, even centuries, simply wandering along the sea, they are not considered Malaysian citizens. They simply do not have any documents. Why?

And if they go ashore, they will become stateless and uneducated people, that's why they are afraid. According to the latest estimates, there are about 30 thousand such stateless people at sea in Semporna alone!



Unique games of sea children))

In general, it feels like we are witnessing the transformation of traditional culture into a culture of poachers and bandits. And since they have no documents, when they finally get to land, not knowing how to do anything except fish, the whole coast will be in trouble. And they were such wonderful people.



If there was Internet and electricity... But there is none.