Securitization and Desecuritization of Migration in Indonesia

Its Implication to Refugee Rights in the Southeast Asian Region

  • Nurul Azizah Zayzda Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Indonesia
  • Maiza Hazrina Ash-Shafikh Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Indonesia
  • Ayusia Sabhita Kusuma Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Indonesia

Abstract

This paper seeks to explain through an analysis using securitization theory, the dynamics of securitization and desecuritization of migration in Indonesia with a particular emphasize on the forced migration issues in the Southeast Asian region. This paper provides an analysis on the speech act represented in the legal documents or policy papers and the non-discursive practices demonstrated by the authorities in the security-related migration regulation and refugees protection. Both the occurrence of securitization and desecuritization is elaborated. The securitization is understood to take place when policy or legal documents as well current practices construct assumptions that migrants, including irregular or forced migrants pose certain threats to society. The desecuritization, meanwhile, is found in legal documents and practices that weaken the security claims regarding the migrants. It is argued here that desecuritization takes place in the midst of securitization and shifts the language of security of forced migration in regional level. The extent to which the perception of security threats imposed by the migratory process has been shifted can be reviewed in the policy changes by other individual states in the region and the international institutions working within regarding to refugees protection.

Author Biographies

Nurul Azizah Zayzda, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Indonesia

Nurul Azizah Zayzda teaches in Department of International Relations Jenderal Soedirman University on the subjects including Diaspora and International Migration; Human Rights Studies; and Peace Studies. She is interested in human rights and migration issues and has published a number of works in these topics including the latest publications: Pendidikan Migrasi Aman: Pembangun Kekuatan Melalui Pengetahuan (2018), Sekuritisasi Migrasi Paksa Pengungsi Lintas-Batas di Indonesia (2017), and Protecting Rohingya Refugees In Asean: The Contested Human Rights in the World of Nation-States (2017).

Maiza Hazrina Ash-Shafikh, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Indonesia

Maiza Hazrina Ash-Shafikh currently teaches in Department of International Relations, Jenderal Soedirman University on a number of subjects including Peace Studies and International Security Studies. Her thesis was titled Motif Rusia dalam Pembuatan International Code of Conduct for Information Security.

Ayusia Sabhita Kusuma, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Indonesia

Ayusia Sabhita Kusuma teaches in Department of International Relations Jenderal Soedirman University specialized in Security Studies in International Relations. She teaches on the subjects Security Studies, Politics of Energy and Environment and Gender in International Relations. Her latest publications include Rivalitas Strategi Maritim China dan India di Selat Malaka (2014).

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Published
2019-06-26
How to Cite
ZAYZDA, Nurul Azizah; ASH-SHAFIKH, Maiza Hazrina; KUSUMA, Ayusia Sabhita. Securitization and Desecuritization of Migration in Indonesia. Journal of Southeast Asian Human Rights, [S.l.], v. 3, n. 1, p. 81-100, june 2019. ISSN 2599-2147. Available at: <https://jurnal.unej.ac.id/index.php/JSEAHR/article/view/8394>. Date accessed: 19 apr. 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.19184/jseahr.v3i1.8394.
Section
Articles

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