Banished Filipino refugees remarkably live and work on the ocean

Referred to as 'Sea Gypsies,' the Bajau spend the majority of life in the water.

Filipino refugees have chosen to establish a community on stilts over the ocean, off the coast of Malaysia, after their country banished them for their stateless status.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - The Bajau, living most of their lives prohibited from setting foot on land, as part of the state's territory, have adapted their lifestyle, as well as their bodies, to conditions above the sea and now even experience "land sickness."

Without education and other basic necessities and services available to them, even the children are taught at the early stages how to catch fish and other food sources in the sea.

The beauty and danger of the Bajau's lives, as well as their deep relationship with the waters, was captured by Malaysian photographer Ng Choo Kia when he decided to explore the mysterious refugee community.

He described them as stateless, not as people who chose to live on the sea their whole lives, as some members briefly set foot on land to trade products not available on the waters.

Ng Choo Kia explained that the Bajau's depend on the sea so much their relationship is deepened; they count the phases of the day through the movement of tides, not by hours.

Children of the Bajau are skilled in terms of hunting the ocean for food.

"Every day the children get on their handmade pirogue, and equipped with a net and lance, they go off on the search for food," Ng Choo Kia said.

However, Ng Choo Kia is wary of the future of the Bajau, as their children have little to no chance of getting a proper education. However, as the sea ties them, it seems hard to move on.

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