Refuge, governmentality and citizenship: Capturing 'illegal migrants' in Malaysia and Thailand

Government and Opposition

Volumn 43, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 358-383

  Hedman, Eva Lotta E ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 42149160055     PISSN: 0017257X     EISSN: 14777053     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-7053.2008.00258.x     Document Type: Article

References (76)

1. An earlier version of this article was presented at a workshop at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, in May 2007, and I thank participants for constructive comments. Fieldwork and related research for this article has benefited from financial support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the kind assistance of Alice Nah. Matthew Gibney, Francis Loh Kok Wah and John Sidel have also provided much food for thought, for which I remain grateful. As ever, any remaining shortcomings rest with the author.
2. Thomas Lemke The Birth of Bio-Politics: Michel Foucault's Lecture at the Collège de France on Neo-Liberal Governmentality Economy and Society, 30 : 2 (May 2001 pp. 190 207.
3. See, for example, Janina Wiktoria Dacyl, Between Compassion and Realpolitik: In Search of a General Model of the Responses of Recipient Countries to Large-Scale Refugee Flows with Reference to the South-East Asian Refugee Crisis, Stockholm, University of Stockholm Studies in Politics, 1992, chs 5 and 9. While the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) in 1989 recognized the refugee criterion of the 1951 Refugee Convention and related instruments, it did not signal recognition of the Convention or the totality of rights therein. See Vitit Muntarbhorn, The Status of Refugees in Asia, Oxford, Oxford Clarendon Press, 1992, p. 132.
4. See especially Hazel Lang, Fear and Sanctuary: Burmese Refugees in Thailand, Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publications, 2002. Under the 1979 Immigration Act (Article 17), the admission and regulation of (some) 'displaced persons fleeing fighting' into camps (officially designated as 'temporary shelters') allow for limited circumventions of the broader prohibitions against entry and stay of 'irregular migrants' in the Royal Kingdom. There is no counterpart to this regime in Malaysia.
5. See, for example, Jennifer Hyndman, Managing Displacement: Refugees and the Politics of Humanitarianism, Minnesota, Minnesota University Press, 2000.
6. Benedict R. O'G. Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, 1st edn, London, Verso, 1983, p. 145.
7. For a contrast with more elaborate recent mechanisms of interdiction and neo refoulement, see especially Kernerman, and Hyndman and Mountz, in this volume.
8. W. Courtland Robinson, Terms of Refuge: The Indochinese Exodus and the International Response, London: Zed Books, 1998, p. 42. Out of 61,729 boat refugees encamped in South-East and East Asian countries at the time, 46,286 were in Malaysia, according to figures cited in Robinson, Terms of Refuge, p. 32. Before the end of the exodus, an estimated 255,000 Vietnamese boat refugees reached a camp (there were eight) in Malaysia. Before the last camp in Malaysia closed in 2001, 248,410 Vietnamese were resettled in the USA or a Cold War allied country outside Asia, except for the 9,000 people who returned to Vietnam. See, for example, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, press release, 'UNHCR and Malaysia Close Camp for Vietnamese Boat-People', 25 June 2001.
9. Robinson, Terms of Refuge, p. 42.
10. W. Courtland Robinson Refugee Warriors at the Thai-Cambodian Border Refugee Survey Quarterly, 19 : 1 (2000 p. 24.
11. While the official category has remained 'illegal undocumented migrant' under Malaysia's Immigration Act, 'illegal immigrants' (pendatang haram) has circulated in public discourse since the early 1980s, followed by 'illegals' in the mid-1980s and, a decade later, 'aliens'. Diana Wong, 'Irregular Migration in Malaysia: Review of Literature and Policies', unpublished paper, n.d. In the case of Thailand, the 1979 Immigration Act (amended in 1992) refers to 'irregular migrants'. For the purpose of this article, the term 'illegal migrant' is used interchangeably with the official categories, unless otherwise indicated.
12. Azizah Kassim, 'Economic Slowdown and its Impact on Cross-National Migration and Policy on Alien Employment in Malaysia', in OECD (ed.), Migration and the Labour Market in Asia: Recent Trends and Policies, Paris, OECD, 2002, p. 330.
13. Sidney Jones, Making Money off Migrants: The Indonesian Exodus to Malaysia, Hong Kong, Asia 2000 Ltd, 2000, p. 89.
14. Kassim, 'Economic Slowdown', p. 330.
15. Figures cited in Samuel Cheung, 'Penalization of Refugees in Malaysia and Thailand: Regional Conceptualisations of Persons in Need', unpublished paper presented at the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration, Cairo, January 2008, p. 4.
16. See, for example, Alice M. Nah, 'Struggling with (Il)legality: The Indeterminate Functioning of Malaysia's Borders for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Stateless Persons', in Prem Kumar and Carl Grundy-War (eds), Borderscapes, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2008.
17. 'UNHCR Staff Celebrates Release of Babies from Detention in Malaysia', UNHCR News Stories, 23 March 2007.
18. Cited in Yongyuth Chalamwong, 'Economic Stagnation, the Labour Market and International Migration in Thailand', in OECD, Migration and the Labour Market in Asia, p. 381.
19. 'Myanmar to Accept Return of Illegal Workers, Thailand Says', Agence France, 8 February 2002.
20. Human Rights Watch, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Thai Policy Toward Burmese Refugees, New York, Human Rights Watch, 16: 2(C) (February 2004), pp. 6-7.
21. For an overview of the media coverage of refugees in Malaysia, see Kiranjit Kaur, Media Reporting on Refugees in Malaysia, UNE Asia Centre Paper 13, Armidale, University of New England Asia Centre, May 2007.
22. A recent study by researcher Kulachada Chaipipat has focused on media coverage of migrants in Thailand. See, for example, 'Foreign Workers Needed but Alienated', The Nation, 26 November 2007.
23. See, for example, Panitan Wattanayagorn, 'Thailand: The Elite's Shifting Conceptions of Security', in Muthiah Alagappa (ed.), Asian Security Practice: Material and Ideational Influences, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1998, pp. 417-44.
24. Lang, Fear and Sanctuary, p. 97.
25. On the role of the Thai military, see Lang, Fear and Sanctuary, pp. 95-7. On deportations directly into the SPCD holding centre in Myawaddy, see also Human Rights Watch, Out of Sight, pp. 13-15.
26. Kamal Sadiq When States Prefer Non-Citizens Over Citizens: Conflict Over Illegal Migration in Malaysia International Studies Quarterly, 49 : 1 (2005 pp. 101 22.
27. Ernst J. A. M. Spaan Taikongs and Calos: The Role of Middlemen and Brokers in Javanese International Migration International Migration Review, 28 : 1 (1994 pp. 93 113.
28. See, for example, Human Rights Watch, 'Mass Expulsion Puts Migrants at Risk', Human Rights News, 19 November 2004.
29. See, for example, John Tribett, 'Acehnese Refugees in Malaysia: A Current Overview', paper presented to the Fourth International Malaysian Studies Conference, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 3-5 August 2004.
30. Author interviews, Penang, March 2005, Kuala Lumpur, January 2006.
31. Tenaganita, 'Memorandum on Abuse, Torture and Dehumanized Treatment of Migrant Workers at Detention Camps', unpublished document, Kuala Lumpur, Tenaganita, 1995. This report, which was picked up by national and international human rights groups, prompted the threat of detention under the National Security Act of Tenaganita's founder/director of Tenaganita, Dr Irene Fernandez. At the time, there were 11 detention camps, a figure that has subsequently quadrupled, including 28 prisons.
32. After 1995, the government transferred immigration and labour recruitment from the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers to the Ministry of Home Affairs, thus paving the way for wider (ab)uses of the Immigration Act against migrant workers, and other migrants. After 2005, camp management was transferred from Immigration to Prisons.
33. Amy Gurowitz Migrant Rights and Activism in Malaysia: Opportunities and Constraints Journal of Asian Studies, 59 : 4 (November 2000 pp. 863 88.
34. In a related argument, Amarjit Kaur draws attention to how changing state practices of migration control have also seen a shift away from a conventional view of the border as a territorial dividing line. See Amarjit Kaur, 'Order and (Dis)Order at the Border: Mobility, International Labour Migration and Border Controls in Southeast Asia', in Amarjit Kaur and Ian Metcalfe (eds), Mobility, Labour Migration and Border Controls in Asia, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2006, pp. 23-51.
35. Human Rights Watch, 'Malaysia: Disband Abusive Volunteer Corps', press release, 9 May 2007.
36. 'Dozens of Illegal Immigrants Detained in Raids', New Straits Times, 16 January 2001. The photograph accompanying this story shows arresting officers and Rela members guarding the back of a small lorry with perhaps as many as a dozen 'illegal immigrants' 'bound for the police station'.
37. 'Cops Raid Indon Hideout', Star, 2 February 2001. The photograph that accompanies this story shows one uniformed Rela officer in charge of the physical apprehension of a young man, with the assistance of three other men wearing informal jackets marked 'RELA'. No police officer can be seen in this photo.
38. 'Three Callgirl Suspects Among 21 Illegals Caught', Star, 29 August 2000. The convenient representation of the Religious Department at this raid was presumably because of the added moral depravity of a situation allegedly involving prostitutes (although prostitution as such is not a crime in Malaysia, merely solicitation). In the accompanying photo, the strangely implausible 'action shot' shows a police officer putting an authoritative hand on the shoulder of a malang-clad Indonesian (Achenese) man climbing out of a closet full of clothes, thus further adding insult to injury.
39. 'Malaysia's Mystery Migrant Deaths', BBC News 24 World Asia-Pacific, 16 February 2006. This article also makes reference to the death of two migrant workers in the same area the previous year - after being struck down by a Rela truck - which had passed without further official investigation or media scrutiny.
40. ' Rela and Malaysia's Invisible War Aliran Monthly, 27 : 9 (2006).
41. Suaram, 'Refugees Increasingly at Risk of Arrest by Immigration Department Despite being Recognized by UNHCR', 2 March 2007.
42. Ibid.
43. Human Rights Watch, 'Malaysia: Disband Abusive Volunteer Corps'.
44. The 2006 estimate is cited in Aliran Monthly, 27: 9 (2006), and the 2007 figure in New Straits Times, 22 April 2007.
45. Bernama, 21 March 2007. According to Tan, the majority of the 'detainees' in 2006 were Indonesian (17,038), Burma (2,988) and India (1,206).
46. Ibid.
47. There is a brief mention of this incident in Human Rights Watch, 'Malaysia: Disband Abusive Volunteer Corps'.
48. New Straits Times, 22 April, 2007. This article reports on the arrest of '10 Rela members on suspicion of robbing 20 Indonesians during a raid on a kongsi in Kampung Rapat I Ipoh'. See Suaram and Human Rights Watch alerts for summary of Rela abuses.
49. 'Malaysia Volunteer Force Accused of Rights Abuses', Reuters, 10 May 2007.
50. Cited in ibid.
51. Cited in New Straits Times, 22 April 2007.
52. See, for example, Arthur Brenner and Bruce Campbell (eds), Death Squads in Global Perspective: Murder with Deniability, New York, St Martin's Press, 2000.
53. Issues that have received prominent attention include the regulation of pre-marital relations among Muslim men and women, halal food certification and even public displays of affection (see further below).
54. GoM, 1964 Emergency (Essential Powers) Act.
55. GoM, 2005 Essential Regulations: Rela Amendment, which entered into effect on 1 February 2005.
56. 'Lawyers Unanimous in Call for the Demise of RELA and the Usage of Only Professional Law Enforcement Personnel in Malaysia', Migrant Forum in Asia (March 2007).
57. 'Rela and Malaysia's Invisible War,' Aliran Monthly, 27: 9 (2006).
58. 'Rela Pushing for Separate Law', New Straits Times, 26 January 2007.
59. 'Rela to Takeover Job of Guarding Detention Depots', Bernama, 22 November 2007.
60. Ibid. I am grateful to Samuel Cheung for drawing my attention to this recent development.
61. See, for example, Harold Crouch, Government and Society in Malaysia, Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 1996.
62. Charles Hirschman The Meaning and Measurement of Ethnicity in Malaysia: An Analysis of Census Classification Journal of Asian Studies, 46 : 3 (August 1987 p. 567.
63. See, for example, the essays in Timothy P. Barnard (ed.), Contesting Malayness: Malay Identity Across Boundaries, Singapore, Singapore University Press, 2004.
64. Joel S. Khan, Other Malays: Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism in the Modern Malay World, Singapore, Singapore University Press, 2006, p. 152.
65. Teruo Sekimoto Pioneer Settlers and State Control: A Javanese Migrant Community in Selangor, Malaysia Southeast Asian Studies, 32 : 2 (September 1994 pp. 173 96.
66. Eva-Lotta E. Hedman Contesting State and Civil Society: Southeast Asian Trajectories Modern Asian Studies, 35 : 4 (2001 pp. 921 51.
67. Michael G. Peletz Sacred Texts and Dangerous Worlds: The Politics of Law and Cultural Rationalization in Malaysia Comparative Study of Society and History, 35 (1993 pp. 66 109.
68. Kahn, Other Malays, p. 170.
69. Benedict R. O'G. Anderson The Languages of Indonesian Politics Indonesia, 1 (April 1966 pp. 89 116
70. Kassim The Unwelcome Guests: Indonesian Immigrants and Malaysian Public Responses Southeast Asian Studies, 25 : 2 (September 1987 p. 276.
71. Lucy Healey Gender Aliens," and the National Imaginary in Contemporary Malaysia Sojourn, 15 : 2 (2000 pp. 234 6.
72. Eric C. Thompson Malay Male Migrants: Negotiating Contested Identities in Malaysia American Ethnologist, 30 : 3 (August 2003 pp. 418 38.
73. Michelle Lee Guy Gossiping Endurance: Discipline and Social Control of Filipina Helpers in Malaysia Asian Journal of Social Science, 32 : 3 (September 2004 pp. 501 18.
74. See, for example, Kahn, Other Malays.
75. See, for example, 'Campaign Against Morality Policing', Sun, 23 March 2005; 'State Morality Squad Disbanded', New Straits Times, 26 March 2005; and 'Halal Issue "Can Hurt Nation" ', Star, 20 March 2005.
76. For a related theoretical perspective on civil society, see Eva-Lotta E. Hedman, In the Name of Civil Society: From Free Election Movements to People Power, Honolulu, University of Hawai'i Press, 2006.