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42. Securitizing border-crossing: The case of marginalized stateless minorities in the Thai-Burma Borderlands
- Author:
- Mika Toyota
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the securitization process of unauthorised migration in Thailand, in particular how the cross-border flows of marginalised minorities, the so-called 'hill tribes' came to be seen as an 'existential threat' to Thai national identity by the state. The paper aims to present a case of societal security by highlighting the importance of national identity. It intends to explore the reasons for portraying cross-border mobility of border minorities as existential threats to the integrity of the Thai state. More specifically, it will investigate the motives of the securitising actor, the Thai state-and examine why the issue evoked security concerns in the wake of the 1997 economic crisis and the way 'emergency measures' were introduced. This paper will illustrate the importance of ethnocized discourses on national identity by broadening the traditional security studies' framework on states and political-military competition at the borderlands.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- Asia
43. Perilous Journeys: The Plight of North Koreans in China and Beyond
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Scores of thousands of North Koreans have been risking their lives to escape their country's hardships in search of a better life, contributing to a humanitarian challenge that is playing out almost invisibly as the world focuses on North Korea's nuclear program. Only a little over 9,000 have made it to safety, mostly in South Korea but also in Japan, Europe and the U.S. Many more live in hiding from crackdowns and forcible repatriations by China and neighbouring countries, vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. If repatriated to the North, they face harsh punishment, possibly execution. China and South Korea have held back, even during the Security Council debate over post-test sanctions, from applying as much pressure as they might to persuade Pyongyang to reverse its dangerous nuclear policy, in part because they fear that the steady stream of North Koreans flowing into China and beyond would become a torrent if the North's economy were to collapse under the weight of tough measures. While there is marginally more hope Beijing will change its ways than Pyongyang, concerned governments can and must do far more to improve the situation of the border crossers.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation and Migration
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, China, Asia, South Korea, and North Korea
44. Risks and Rights: The Causes, Consequences, and Challenges of Development-Induced Displacement
- Author:
- W. Courtland Robinson
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- While it may have as many meanings as people who invoke its name, development generally has positive, though perhaps ambiguous, connotations. Uneven development is a bad thing and sustainable development is a good thing but, for the most part, under- developed countries and communities seek to become more developed, whether that is through improving health and livelihoods, expanding educational opportunities, or building infrastructure. But, as the citations above suggest, development does not benefit everyone equally and for some—indeed, for millions of people around the world—development has cost them their homes, their livelihoods, their health, and even their very lives. The suffering of those displaced by development projects can be as severe, and the numbers as large, as those displaced either internally or internationally by conflict and violence. What follows is an examination of the often-overlooked phenomenon of development-induced displacement, its causes, consequences and challenges for the international community.
- Topic:
- Development, Human Welfare, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Asia
45. Migration, Population Change, and the Rural Environment
- Author:
- Richard E. Bilsborrow
- Publication Date:
- 08-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Wilson Center
- Abstract:
- This article considers issues pertaining to the linkages between rural populations, migration from and to rural areas, and the environment—focusing on developing countries in the latter part of the 20th century. The article concentrates on internal migration, although it does briefly discuss the state of knowledge on the interplay between international migration and the environment. It addresses questions such as: What are the recent—and projected—patterns of rural population growth? How much internal migration in developing nations is towards rural environments? What kinds of rural environments are people moving into, in what countries, and what are the environmental consequences? Are there relationships in the other direction as well—that is, does environmental deterioration play an important role in out-migration from rural areas? And does out-migration from rural areas have environmental effects on the places of migratory origin? The article concludes with policy recommendations.
- Topic:
- Security, Environment, Migration, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Asia
46. Managing Security Challenges in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
- Author:
- Sheila Coutts and Kelvin Ong
- Publication Date:
- 06-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- While a functioning security sector provides the cornerstone for stable and democratic post-conflict societies, the record of the international community in establishing this critical function is mixed. Despite repeatedly having to manage the immediate post-conflict situation in various peace operations in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, the international community still fails to take the state of the local security sector adequately into account when planning its own intervention.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Asia, and Latin America
47. Afghanistan — Offensive Spring
- Author:
- Caspar Fithin
- Publication Date:
- 05-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxford Analytica
- Abstract:
- UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers yesterday began a visit to western Afghanistan to assess the country's deepening humanitarian crisis. Extreme drought and an intensification of the country's chronic war following a winter lull in fighting are likely to exacerbate famine and displacement of population. However, despite the emergence of a disaster which the international community will find difficult to ignore, UN sanctions against the Taliban, which controls 90% of the country, have done nothing either to curtail the movement's depredations against the population under its control or dampen its enthusiasm for a spring offensive. Peace for Afghanistan remains unrealistic as it enters its ninth year of civil war. Indeed, in the short term the total collapse of the country's agricultural system is likely to produce an influx of new recruits for this cycle of violence. However, evidence of a growing fractiousness within the Taliban could result in an emergence of a more moderate faction amenable both to dialogue with the international community and an accommodation with opposition forces.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Migration, Politics, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Asia