The Politics of Forced Migration in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Forced migration is deeply rooted in the local, national, regional, and global politics of nation states. In Southeast Asia, it has been, and remains, intensely experiential, and policy actions cannot be understood in abstract or normative terms. Member states differ greatly in economic, social, and political terms, and thus how they perceive their interests. Individually and collectively through ASEAN, they have tended to act defensively with respect to forced migration, but with accommodations and regional responses when called for, as episodes from mainland Southeast Asia and Myanmar, show. For states to be incentivised to raise their levels of protection and welfare, forced migration needs to be framed as a global collective endeavour. It is through the setting of new norms through the international framework and compacts agreed that higher minimum standards will evolve.