The triad of transnationalism, legal recognition, and local community: Shaping political space for the Burmese refugees in Japan

Refuge

Volumn 23, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 36-46

  Banki, Susan ^a  

^a TUFTS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADVOCACY; ASYLUM SEEKER; COMMUNICATION; COMMUNITY STRUCTURE; LEGAL RIGHTS; POLITICAL CHANGE; REFUGEE;

ASIA; EURASIA; FAR EAST; JAPAN; MYANMAR; SOUTHEAST ASIA;

EID: 33746388854     PISSN: 02295113     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. Osten Wahtbeck, "The concept of diaspora as an analytical tool in the study of refugee communities," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 28 (2002): 223.
2. A lengthier discussion of transnationalism follows, but transnational space refers to the arena where transnational life takes place. It is the space where, for instance, foreign workers transfer funds overseas, where migrants raise and resolve tensions among family members caught between the traditional culture of their home country and the modern culture of their host country, and where refugees struggle to balance the realities of their current lives with their desire to return to their homeland. Faist has elaborated on the term "transnational social spaces" and offered preconditions under which transnationlism occurs. Thomas Faist, The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration and Transnational Social Spaces (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000), 198.
3. See, for example, John Baylis and Steve Smith, eds., The Globalization of World Politic, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 526.
4. In this paper, the definition of "refugee" includes both those with and those without official refugee status, since the very purpose of the paper is to compare varying groups. As discussed further on, Burmese "refugees" are identified in a broader scope than what would be dictated by official designation.
5. Wahlbeck provides an extensive review of the distinctions between transnational groups and diasporas, and presents a neat summary of the different academic approaches to diaspora. Additionally, he advises against spending too much time trying to determine whether or not a particular group actually constitutes a diaspora (Wahlbeck, 228-32). I will heed his warning and stay away frorn the subject altogether.
6. While the physical movement of individuals is easier today, border restrictions have limited migration politically. Transnational efforts to mitigate or circumvent quotas, visa requirements, or detention are just some aspects of transnationalism's increasing significance.
7. Several authors have explored refugee involvement in political advocacy. See, for example, Gisele Bousquet, Behind the Bamboo Hedge: The Impact of Homeland Politics in the Parisian Vietnamese Community (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991)
8. and Oivind Fuglerud, Life on the Outside: The Tamil Diaspora and Long-Distance Nationalism (London: Pluto Press, 1999).
9. Fiona Adamson, "Mobilizing for the Transformation of Home: Politicized Identities and Transnational Practices," in New Approaches to Migration? Transnational Communities and the Transformation of Home, ed. Nadje Al-Ali and Khalid Koser (London: Routledge, 2002), 155-68.
10. Nicholas Van Hear, "From Durable Solutions to Transnational Relations: Home and Exile among Refugee Diasporas" (Working Paper No. 83, New Issues in Refugee Research, UNHCR, Geneva, 2003), 3.
11. Koser and Al-Ali examine the meaning of home in Nadje Al-Ali and Khalid Koser, "Transnationalism, International Migration, and Home," in New Approaches to Migration? Transnational Communities and the Transformation of Home, ed. Nadje Al-Ali and Khalid Koser (New York: Routledge, 2002), 1-14.
12. Ibid., 5.
13. Van Hear, 3.
14. Ibid., 15.
15. See Susan Banki, "Refugee Integration in the Intermediate Term: A Study of Nepal, Pakistan, and Kenya" (Working Paper No. 108, New Issues in Refugee Research, UNHCR, Geneva, 2004), 4.
16. Stephen Castles and Nicholas Van Hear, "The Migration-Asylum Nexus: Definitions and Dimensions" (paper presented at the 9th International Association for the Study of the Forced Migration Conference, São Paulo, 9-13 January 2005).
17. For example, see Mohamed Kamel Dorai, "Palestinian Emigration from Lebanon to Northern Europe: Refugees, Networks, and Transnational Practices," Refuge 21 (2003): 23-31; Dorai notes that transnational links remain weak until individuals receive legal status. Faist specifically points to the host government's juridical and political regulations as a factor which permits refugees to travel and protest freely (2000).
18. I have argued elsewhere that legal recognition does not necessarily offer all of the freedoms that improve refugee quality of life that we assume it will, but this point steps away from questions about transnational action. See Susan Banki, "Community and Quality of Life: The Consequences of Legal Status for the Burmese Refugees in Japan" (paper presented at the 9th International Association for the Study of the Forced Migration Conference, São Paulo, 9-13 January 2005).
19. Val Colic-Peisker, "Bosnian Refugees in Australia: Identity, Community and Labour Market Integration" (Working Paper No. 97, New Issues in Refugee Research, UNHCR, Geneva, 2003), 7.
20. Prakash Shah, "Taking the 'Political' Out of Asylum: The Legal Containment of Refugees' Political Activism," in Refugee Rights and Realities: Evolving International Concepts and Regimes, ed. Frances Nicholson and Patrick M. Twomey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 119-35.
21. Dorai, 23-31.
22. Jeff Crisp, "Policy Challenges of the New Diasporas: Migrant Networks and Their Impact on Asylum Flows and Regimes" (Working Paper No. 7, New Issues in Refugee Research, UNHCR, Geneva, 1999), 6.
23. Guido Ambroso, "Pastoral Society and Transnational Refugees: Population Movements in Somaliland and Eastern Ethiopia 1988-2000" (Working Paper No. 65, New Issues in Refugee Research, UNHCR, Geneva, 2002).
24. Mulki Al-Sharmani, "Refugee Livelihoods: Livelihood and Diasporic Identity Constructions of Somali Refugees in Cairo" (Working Paper No. 104, New Issues in Refugee Research, UNHCR, Geneva, 2004).
25. For an in-depth discussion of the intermediate term, see Banki 2004, 5.
26. In 2003, Japan donated $100.5 million to UNHCR, IOM, and UNRWA, a contribution greater than any other single country other than the US. However, its refugee acceptance rate was extremely low. Its ratio of reftigee population to total population was 1:16,139, compared to the US at 1:1,194 and Thailand at 1:150. See USCR, World Refugee Survey 2003 (Washington, DC: USCR, 2004), 14-15.
27. Ryuji Mukae, Japan's Refugee Policy. To Be of the World (New York: U.S. Committee for Refugees, 2002).
28. Koichi Koizumi, "Resettlement of Indochinese Refugees in Japan (1975-1985). An Analysis and Model for Future Services," Journal of Refugee Studies 4 (1991): 182-99.
29. Isami Takeda, "Japan's Responses to Refugees and Political Asylum Seekers," in Temporary Workers or Future Citizens? Japanese and U.S. Migration Policies, ed. Myron Weiner and Tadashi Hanami (New York: New York University Press, 1998), 431-51.
30. Myron Weiner, "Opposing Visions: Migration and Citizenship Policies in Japan and the United States," in Temporary Workers or Future Citizens? Japanese and U.S. Migration Policies, ed. Myron Weiner and Tadashi Hanami (New York: New York university Press, 1998), 23.
31. The effort to distinguish between Burmese who fled to Japan for political rather than economic reasons highlights the issue of the aforementioned "migration/asylum nexus," which might be better called a "continuum" in this context. This paper is interested in the effect of legal labelling, rather than in identifying individuals as "real" refugees (a misled effort to be sure). Therefore, I did not track down spurious claims or specific facts that would challenge/substantiate refugee status, but rather focused on how that status (or lack) shaped transnational space. As discussed in the next section, these refugees lie somewhere on the legal spectrum from Convention refugees to totally illegal.
32. For much of the information in the following section, I am indebted to Eri Ishikawa, Senior Legal Researcher at the Japan Association for Refugees; see http://refugee.or.jp.
33. The revisions to the law are not perfect by any means. Two major criticisms have been leveled thus far: (1) asylum seekers are not permitted to work, which is an unreasonable expectation for individuals who generally lack resources; (2) the revisions in the law created an independent body of Adjudication Counselors to review appeals, but the hearings are limited to an hour, even if translation is necessary. As a result, several asylum lawyers are boycotting these hearings.
34. Josef Silverstein, "The Evolution and Salience of Burma's National Culture," in Burma: Prospects for a Democratic Future, ed. Robert Rotberg (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1998), 11-32;
35. and Ananda Rajah, "Ethnicity and Civil War in Burma: Where Is the Rationality?" in Burma: Prospects for a Democratic Future, ed. Robert Rotberg (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1998), 135-52.
36. This is part of a much larger problem in Burma's future, which deserves closer treatment in another format.
37. Shah, 126.
38. Confidential interview with Burmese refugee in Japan, August 2005.
39. There are only so many times that overstayers can return to Japan once they leave, but new arrivals with legal permission to work (who have not yet become overstayers) replace those who leave permanently.
40. While my relationship with an extremely reputable and trusted law firm probably helped create trust with those I interviewed, I acknowledge that refugees are likely to tell a story that highlights their activities as pro-democracy demonstrators and minimizes their images as illegal migrants. It is possible that some refugees told me of their "political awakening" in this vein, but I heard the story not only from overstayers and asylum seekers, but from those who were entirely secure in their legal status.
41. Note that some refugees reject legal status for fear of harming their families in Burma, while others obtain legal status in order to send for them. This contradiction requires further study.
42. Two related factors may change this relationship. First, if the Japanese government's crackdown on illegal migrants forces increasing numbers of them to claim refugee status, the marginalization of those who apply will lessen. Second, as more refugees receive legal status, the legal local refugee community will grow in size and perhaps in political strength. From my observations during a follow-up visit in August 2005, both of these phenomena are starting to occur.
43. Yossi Shain, Marketing the American Creed Abroad: Diasporas in US and Their Homelands (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 83.