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).

References

Balzacq, Thierry, Sarah Léonard & Jan Ruzicka. “‘Securitization’ revisited: theory and cases” (2016) 30:4 Int Relat 494.

Betts, Alexander, Gil Loescher & James Milner. “The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): The Politics and Practice of Refugee Protection into the 21st Century” (2008), online: https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-united-nations-high-commissioner-for-refugees-unhcr-the-politics-and-practice-of-refugee-protection-into-the-21st-century.

Ceyhan, Ayse & Anastassia Tsoukala. “The Securitization of Migration in Western Societies: Ambivalent Discourses and Policies” (2002) 27:1 Altern Spec Issue 21.

Cisarua Refugee Learning Center. Annual Report 2015-2016 (2018).

Directorate General of Immigration Regulation No. IMI 0352 GR 02 07year 2016 on Management of Illegal Immigrants

Dompet Dhuafa. “Dompet Dhuafa dan PAHAM Indonesia Dorong Penguatan Mekanisme Penanganan Pengungsi”, (September 2017), online: https://www.dompetdhuafa.org/post/detail/8544/dompet-dhuafa-dan-paham-indonesia-dorong-penguatan-mekanisme-penanganan-pengungsi.

Dompet Dhuafa. “Release Penanganan Konflik Kemanusiaan Rohingya dan Rakhine di Myanmar”, (September 2017), online: Dompet Dhuafa https://www.dompetdhuafa.org/post/detail/8241/release-penanganan-konflik-kemanusiaan-rohingya-dan-rakhine-di-myanmar.

European Commission. “European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations: Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia” (2018) 2.

European External Action Service. “The Invisible Refugees of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand”, (10 July 2018), online: EEAS - Eur Extern Action Serv - Eur Comm https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/association-southeast-asian-nations-asean/48201/invisible-refugees-indonesia-malaysia-and-thailand_en.

Gotinga, JC. “ASEAN summit silence on Rohingya ‘an absolute travesty’”, (15 November 2017), online: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/asean-summit-silence-rohingya-absolute-travesty-171114211156144.html.

Herța, Laura. “Security as Speech Act: Discourse Construction on the Syrian Refugee Crisis” (2017) Int Conf Redefining Community Intercult Context 283.

Huysmans, Jef. The Politics of Insecurity: Fear, Migration and Asylum in the EU (London, UK: Routledge, 2006).

Ibrahim, Maggie. “The Securitization of Migration: A Racial Discourse1” (2005) 43:5 International Migration 163.

Immigration Circulate No. IMI-GR-0-03-1194 year 2017

Jakesevic, Ruzica & S Tatalović. “Securitization (and de-securitization) of the European refugee crisis: Croatia in the regional context” (2016) 53:5 Teor Praksa 1246.

Kementrian Luar Negeri Republik Indonesia. “Indonesian Humanitarian Aid Received by the Government of Bangladesh”, (2017), online: https://www.kemlu.go.id/en/berita/Pages/Indonesian-Humanitarian-Aid-Received-by-the-Government-of-Bangladesh.aspx.

Kurniasari, Triwik. “Roshan Learning Center empowers, brings hope to refugees - UNHCR Indonesia”, (18 July 2017), online: UNHCR https://www.unhcr.org/id/en/11072-roshan-learning-center-empowers-brings-hope-refugees.html.

Mathew, Penelope. “Whither Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia’s Refugee Crisis?”, (23 July 2018), online: The Diplomat https://thediplomat.com/2015/08/whither-regional-cooperation-in-southeast-asias-refugee-crisis/.

Mathew, Penelope & Tristan Harley. “Refugee Protection and Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia”, (2014), online: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/156623449.pdf.

McDonald, Matt. “Securitization and the Construction of Security” (2008) 14:4 Eur J Int Relat 563.

Missbach, Antje. “Accommodating Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Indonesia: From Immigration Detention to Containment in ‘Alternatives to Detention’” (2017) 33:2 Refuge Can J Refug 32.

Missbach, Antje, Yunizar Adiputera, et al. “Stalemate: Refugees in Indonesia- Presidential Regulation No 125 of 2016” CILIS Policy Pap, online: https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/file/0006/2777667/CILIS-Paper-14_Missbach-et-al_final.pdf.

Missbach, Antje. “Towards A Real Solution to Southeast Asia’s Refugee Crisis”, (19 August 2015), online: The Diplomat https://thediplomat.com/2015/08/towards-a-real-solution-to-southeast-asias-refugee-crisis/.

Presidential Regulation No. 125 year 2016 on Management of Refugees

Refugee Council of Australia. “Australia closes door on persecuted Rohingya”, (21 May 2015), online: https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/latest/australia-closes-door-on-persecuted-rohingya/.

Reliefweb. “Asia Refugee Policy Analysis - Bangladesh”, (14 September 2018), online: ReliefWeb https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/asia-refugee-policy-analysis.

Roshan Learning Center. The Year in Review - Annual Report 2017 (2018).

Sheany. “Indonesia Ready to Help Bangladesh Address Refugee Crisis: FM Retno”, (6 September 2017), online: Jkt Globe https://jakartaglobe.id/context/indonesia-ready-help-bangladesh-address-refugee-crisis-fm-retno.

Stritzel, Holger. “Towards a Theory of Securitization: Copenhagen and Beyond” (2007) 13:3 Eur J Int Relat 357.

SUAKA. “Indonesia Civil Network for Refugee Protection”, online: https://suaka.or.id/category/news/events/.

Tkaczyk, Michal. “Between Politicization and Securitization: Coverage of the European Migration Crisis in Czech Online News Media” (2017) 8:2 Commun Today.

Triceseria, Anak Agung Istri Diah, Nurul Azizah Zayda & Rizka Fiani Prabaningtyas. “A New Approach to Refugee’s Welfare through the Role of Community: Case Study of Refugee’s Community Centre in Sewon” (2017) 2:1 Glob South Rev 1.

UNHCR Global Focus. “2018 Planning Summary - Operation: Bangladesh” (2017) 3.

UNHCR Global Focus. “2018 Planning Summary: Subregion South East Asia” (2018) 5.

UNHCR Global Focus. “2018 Planning Summary - Operation: Thailand” (2018), online: http://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/pdfsummaries/GA2018-Thailand-eng.pdf.

UNHCR Global Focus. “Indonesia | Global Focus”, (22 July 2018), online: http://reporting.unhcr.org/node/10335?y=2018#year.

UNHCR Global Focus. “South East Asia | Global Focus”, (22 July 2018), online: http://reporting.unhcr.org/node/39.

UNHCR. “Refugee Status Determination”, (22 July 2018), online: UNHCR https://www.unhcr.org/id/en/refugee-status-determination.

UNHCR Regional Office for Southeast Asia. “South-East Asia Fact Sheet”, (21 July 2018), online: UNHCR https://www.unhcr.org/protection/operations/519f67fc9/south-east-asia-fact-sheet.html.

Wæver, Ole. Securitization and Desecuritization (Centre for Peace and Conflict Research, 1993).

Williams, Michael C. “Words, Images, Enemies: Securitization and International Politics” (2003) 47:4 Int Stud Q 511.

Zayzda, Nurul Azizah. “Sekuritisasi Migrasi Paksa Pengungsi Lintas- Batas di Indonesia” (2017) 3:1 Semin Nas Huk Univ Negeri Semarang 43.

Zayzda, Nurul Azizah & Sri Wijayanti. “Negara Maritim Indonesia, Migrasi Tidak Teratur, dan Hak Pengungsi Lintas Batas” (2016) 3:02 Insign J Int Relat 48.

Zayzda, Nurul Azizah. “Sovereignty and Responsibility in Global Refugee Protection and Humanitarian Intervention in the 21st Century” (2015) 2 Insign J Int Relat 82.
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: 22 dec. 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.19184/jseahr.v3i1.8394.
Section
Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Obs.: This plugin requires at least one statistics/report plugin to be enabled. If your statistics plugins provide more than one metric then please also select a main metric on the admin's site settings page and/or on the journal manager's settings pages.