Forced Migrants, Media, and Securitization: Making Sense of the Changing Representations of Transit Asylum Seekers in Indonesian Print Media

Authors

  • Antony Lee Political and Law Desk, Kompas Newspaper, Jakarta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21512/jas.v5i2.3923

Keywords:

transit forced migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, media representations, Securitization Theory, Indonesia.

Abstract

This paper aims to explain how and why the representations of transit forced migrants in Indonesian major print media were vastly different within two time spans: (1) during the arrivals of the Indochinese refugees in 1975-1996 and (2) in the period of the new generations of refugees from Middle Eastern and South Asian countries in 1997-2013. Employing media content analysis of 216 news articles from three major print media in Indonesia, this study found out that the Indochinese refugees were portrayed with positive labels and thus, mainly discussed in connection with the non-security theme. In contrast, the new generations of forced migrants were portrayed with negative labels such as ‘illegal immigrants’ and were framed as security threats. Grounded within Securitization Theory, this paper thus argues that the changing representations were caused by the securitizing move made by specialized agencies in Indonesia.

 


Dimensions

Plum Analytics

Author Biography

Antony Lee, Political and Law Desk, Kompas Newspaper, Jakarta

A political reporter working for Kompas Newspaper in Jakarta, Indonesia. I mainly write articles in relation to the issue of democracy, elections, as well as social media and political engagements

Reporter, Political and Law Desk of Kompas 

References

Balzacq, Thierry. 2005. "The Three Faces of Securitization: Political Agency, Audience and Context". European Journal of International Relations, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 171-201.

Bigo, Didier. 1998. “Frontiers and Security in the European Union: The Illusion of Migration Control”. In Anderson, Malcolm. and Bort, Eberhard .(Eds). The Frontiers of Europe. London: Pinter.

Brun, Cathrine. 2010. “Hospitality: Becoming ‘IDPs’ and ‘Hosts’ in Protracted Displacement”. Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 337-355.

Busch, Brigitta. and Kryzanowski, Michal. 2012. “Media and Migration: Exploring the Field”. In Messer, Michi., Schroeder, Renee., and Wodak, Ruth .eds. Migrations: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. London: Springer.

Buzan, Barry. Waever, Ole. and de-Wilde, Jaap. 1998. Security: A New Framework of Analysis. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner.

Chaves, Leo R. 2001. Covering Immigration: Popular Images and The Politic of the Nation. California: University of California Press.

Edgar, Andrew. and Sedgwick, Peter. 2002. Cultural Theory: The Key Concept. London: Routledge.

Esses, V.M., Medianu, S. & Lawson, A.S. 2013. "Uncertainty, Threat, and the Role of the Media in Promoting the Dehumanization of Immigrants and Refugees". Journal of Social Issues, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 518-536.

Fandik, M. 2013. “Penampungan Orang Vietnam di Pulau Galang 1975-1996 [Vietnamese Shelter in Galang Island 1975-1996]”. Avatara, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 164-172. Available in http://ejournal.unesa.ac.id/index.php/avatara/article/view/1133/831 (Accessed 2nd March 2015).

Geraghty, Christine. 2000. “Representation and Popular Culture: Semiotics and the Construction of Meaning”. In Curran, James. and Gurevitch, Michael. (Eds). Mass Media and Society. (3rd edition). London: Arnold.

Gilbert, Liette. 2013. "The Discursive Production of a Mexican Refugee Crisis in Canadian Media and Policy". Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 827-843.

Hammerstad, Anne. 2014. “The Securitization of Forced Migration”. In Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Elena., Loescher, Gil., Long, Katy., and Sigona, Nando. (Eds). The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hansen, Anders., Cottle, Simon., Negrine, Ralph., and Newbold, Chris. 1998. Mass Communication Research Methods. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd.

Hansen, Lene. 2000. “The Little Mermaid´s Silent Security Dillema and the Absence of Gender in the Copenhagen School”. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, vol. 29, no.2, pp. 285-306.

Huysmans, Jef. 2000. "The European Union and the Securitization of Migration". JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 751-777.

Huysmans, Jef. 2006. The Politics of Insecurity: Fear, Migration, and Asylum in the EU. Abingdon: Routledge.

Innes, Alexandria J. 2010. "When the Threatened Become the Threat: The Construction of Asylum Seekers in British Media Narratives". International Relations, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 456-477.

Karyotis, Georgios. 2012. “Securitization of Migration in Greece: Process, Motive, and Implications". International Political Sociology, vol. 6, pp. 390-408.

Keputusan Presiden RI Nomor 38. 1979. Koordinasi Penyelesaian Masalah Pengungsi Vietnam di Indonesia. [Presidential Decree Number 38/1979 about Coordination for Solving the Vietnamese Refugees Problem in Indonesia].

Khosravinik, M. 2009. "The Representation of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Immigrants in British Newspapers During the Balkan Conflict (1999) and the British General Election (2005)". Discourse & Society, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 477-498.

Kneebone, Susan. 2014. "The Bali Process and Global Refugee Policy in the Asia–Pacific Region". Journal of Refugee Studies, pp. 1-23.

Koser, Khalid. 2006. “Irregular Migration”. In Marshall, Barbara. ed. The Politics of Migration: A Survey. London: Routledge.

Levinsen, K. & Wien, C. 2011. "Changing media representations of youth in the news – a content analysis of Danish newspapers 1953–2003". Journal of Youth Studies, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 837-851.

Macnamara, Jim. 2005. “Media Content Analysis: Its Uses; Benefits and Best Practice Methodology”. Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1-34.

McKay, F.H., Thomas, S.L. & Warwick Blood, R. 2011. "‘Any One of These Boat People Could be a Terrorist For All We Know!’ Media Representations and Public Perceptions of ‘Boat People’ Arrivals in Australia". Journalism, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 607-626.

Missbach, Antje. 2013. “Waiting on the Island of ‘Stuckedness’. Managing Asylum Seekers in Island Detention Camps in Indonesia: From the Late 1970s to the Early 2000s.” ASEAS-Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies, vol. 6 (2), pp. 281-306.

Nethery, Amy. and Gordyn, Carly. 2014. “Australia-Indonesia Cooperation on Asylum-Seekers: a Case of ´Incentivised Policy Transfer´”. Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 177-193.

Nethery, Amy., Raffety-Brown, Brynna., and Taylor, Savitri. 2012. “Exporting Detention: Australia-funded Immigration Detention in Indonesia”. Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 26, no.1, pp. 88-109.

Peoples, Columba. and Vaughan-Williams, Nick. 2010. Critical Security Studies: An Introduction. Abingdon: Routledge.

Peraturan Direktur Jenderal Imigrasi Nomor IMI.1489.UM.08.05. 2010. Penanganan Imigran Ilegal [The Handling of Illegal Immigrants].

Petersson, Bo. 2006. Stories About Stranger: Swedish Media Construction of Socio-Cultural Risk. Maryland: University Press of America.

Scheel, Stehpan. and Squire, Vicki. 2014. “Forced Migrants as ‘Illegal Migrants’”. In Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Elena., Loescher, Gil., Long, Katy., and Sigona, Nando. (Eds). The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sheehan, Michael. 2005. International Security: An Analytical Survey. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Swastiwi, Anastasia W. 2012. Pulau Galang, Wajah Humanisme Indonesia: Penanganan Manusia Perahu Vietnam 1979-1996 [Galang Island, the Humanism Face of Indonesia: The Care of Vietnamese Boat Pepople 1979-1996]. Jakarta: Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.

Taylor, Savitri. and Rafferty-Brown, Brynna. 2010. “Difficult Journeys: Accessing Refugee Protection in Indonesia”. Monash University Law Review, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 138-161.

Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2011 tentang Keimigrasian [Law Number 11/2011 about Immigration].

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. UNHCR. 2000. “The State of The World Refugees 2000: Fifty Years of Humanitarian Action”. Available in http://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9bad0.html (Accessed 26th February 2015).

_________________. 2007. “Statistical Yearbook 2006”. Available in http://www.unhcr.org/478ce34a2.html (Accessed 26th February 2015)

_________________. 2008. “Statistical Yearbook 2007”. Available in http://www.unhcr.org/4981c3dc2.html (Accessed 26th February 2015)

_________________. 2009. “Statistical Yearbook 2008”. Available in http://www.unhcr.org/4bcc5c9f9.html (Accessed 26th February 2015)

_________________. 2010. “Statistical Yearbook 2009”. Available in http://www.unhcr.org/4ce5327f9.html (Accessed 26th February 2015)

_________________. 2011. “Statistical Yearbook 2010”. Available in http://www.unhcr.org/4ef9c7269.html (Accessed 26th February 2015)

_________________. 2012. “Statistical Yearbook 2011”. Available in http://www.unhcr.org/51628f589.html (Accessed 26th February 2015)

_________________. 2013. “Statistical Yearbook 2012”. Available in http://www.unhcr.org/52a723f89.html (Accessed 26th February 2015)

_________________. 2014. “Statistical Yearbook 2013”. Available in http://www.unhcr.org/54cf9bc29.html (Accessed 26th February 2015)

Waever, Ole. 1995. “Securitization and Desecuritization”. In Lipschutz, Ronnie D. (Ed). On Security. New York: Columbia University Press

Watson, Scott D. 2009. The Securitization of Humanitarian Migration: Digging Moats and Sinking Boats. Abingdon: Routledge.

Downloads

Published

2018-04-28
Abstract 585  .
PDF downloaded 352  .