Voluntary Return Research Articles

THE PLIGHT OF REFUGEES IN MALAYSIA: MALAYSIA AS A TRANSIT COUNTRY IN PROTECTING REFUGEES’ RIGHTS

The role of UNHCR and respective transit countries is to help refugees find lasting solutions that will allow them to rebuild their lives in dignity and peace, via local integration, voluntary repatriation or resettlement in a third country. Awaiting resettlement, the refugees are always mistakenly believed to be economic migrants or illegal immigrants. Due to the absence of legal or administrative regulations governing refugees, they are exposed to detention with the possibility of refoulement. These refugees are not legally permitted to work, which leads them to work discreetly and are willing to perform low-paying jobs in order to earn a living. Children are denied proper education and healthcare, which are considered as luxuries they could not afford. All these are common and enduring plights that still haunt refugees in Malaysia. This article reviews the plight of refugees in Malaysia during the transitional period before resettlement, discusses the roles of Malaysia as a transit country, and proposes lasting solutions for refugees in Malaysia. It is hoped that this article will provide a better understanding of the roles of transit countries particularly Malaysia for protection of refugees’ rights especially on their resettlement. In addition, assistance from UNHCR and other NGOs are also important to solve this problem.
 
 Keywords: Malaysia, refugee, resettlement, transit country, UNHCR.
 
 Cite as: Sahak, S., Nordin, R., & Ishak, M. K. (2020). The plight of refugees in Malaysia: Malaysia as a transit country in protecting refugees’ rights. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(1), 378-394. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss1pp378-394

The Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Rethinking Solutions and Accountability

An estimated one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar reside in a mega-camp outside Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Several hundred thousand internally displaced ethnic Rohingya remain in Myanmar. Durable solutions are not forthcoming. This paper reviews the situation in Myanmar and the regional, political and operational limitations including within the United Nations to assert voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya from Bangladesh will remain evasive. While the humanitarian situation on the ground is evolving, and justice and accountability measures are progressing at the same time political and diplomatic efforts continue to push for resolution of the crisis, there is a need to explore other solutions and mitigation measures available under international law and practice, and in doing so ensure the voices of the Rohingya are heard.

The Reality and Dilemmas of Voluntary Repatriation: A Case Study of the Refugees in the Myanmar-Thailand Border Areas

The Reality and Dilemmas of Voluntary Repatriation: A Case Study of the Refugees in the Myanmar-Thailand Border Areas

«Для твердого примирения кайсацкого народа с калмыцким надлежит показать им удовольствие». «Разменная карта» в степной дипломатии в середине XVIII в.

Studies of relations between the peoples of Russia at various stages of its statehood development remain much needed and relevant in contemporary historical science. The process of Russia’s historical development involved most different nations into the orbit of its domestic and foreign policies. So, the Russian government was constantly facing with the challenge of retaining them within the state. To facilitate that, it was essential to determine their places and roles in the state structure. However, not all nations had previously maintained peaceful relations with their new neighbors. The central and local Russian authorities had to search for ways to overcome the difficulties encountered in establishing peaceful coexistence of different peoples, employing vast military, administrative and diplomatic methods. The latter included retention and return of hostages or captives. Goals. The paper seeks to examine Kalmyk-Kazakh relations in the mid-18th century, identifying the Russian government’s role in establishing peaceful coexistence of the two steppe peoples within one state under the rule of Russian law; it also aims to investigate various aspects related to the role of captives in diplomatic contacts between the Russian establishment and representatives of steppe nobility. Results. The fact that in the 1730s Kazakhs of the Junior and Middle Zhuzes virtually became Russian citizens resulted a certain phenomenon: one state was then housing two steppe peoples relations between which were primarily reduced to mutual raids and hostilities. In the 1740s, Russian authorities made some efforts to facilitate peaceful coexistence of Kalmyks and Kazakhs under the rule of the Russian Empire. The diplomatic tool to have accompanied negotiation processes was the practice of voluntary return of captives. Conclusions. The analysis of the facts examined suggests that when it came to relations with the steppe peoples in the mid-18th century, the Russian authorities made extensive use of captives exchange to achieve wanted results in negotiation processes.

The Prospects for Durable Solutions for Syrian Refugees in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: A Case Study of Erbil Governorate Camps

Abstract Today, forced displacement from Syria has resulted in one of the largest refugee populations worldwide, creating yet another ‘protracted displacement’ in the Middle East. To explore this situation, an analysis of the perceptions held by all stakeholders of potential durable solutions is urgently required. This research examines three durable solutions: voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement in a third country. It also examines the State practice of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in terms of its response to the protection of Syrian refugees and their entitlement to education, health care, employment, and residency. In so doing, it identifies the challenges and issues facing Syrians in the region. The focus is on local-level perceptions of practitioners, policy-makers, and Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The methodology for this study includes desk research, focus groups, and interviews with refugees in four camps in Erbil governorate, namely, Basirma, Darashakran, Kawergosk, and Qushtapa between August 2017 and December 2017. The findings show that the preferred durable solution for the overall majority of the Syrian refugees in this research was resettlement to third countries. Both local integration and voluntary repatriation were viewed as largely unworkable.

From Roll-Out to Reverse: Understanding Tanzania’s Withdrawal from the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF)

Abstract This article tries to bring some clarity to the dynamics of current Tanzanian politics that led to the sudden withdrawal of the country from the voluntary commitment to be a Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) roll-out country and, through this, an international forerunner in the application of the new comprehensive and multi-stakeholder approach embedded in the ‘New Way of Working’. Specifically, the article will look into the possible underlying factors behind the decision to retreat from the application of the CRRF and highlight the potential implications of this course of action. Finally, in light of the above, the article will discuss lessons learned that could inform the implementation of the CRRF in other roll-out countries and suggest possible ways forward on how to strategically work with durable solutions in Tanzania beyond the option of voluntary repatriation.

Ethnic minorities and sustainable refugee return and reintegration in Kosovo

ABSTRACTUnprecedented levels of displacement make the return of refugees and internally displaced populations a critical challenge, with post-conflict minority return especially complex. This article investigates the return process in Kosovo to identify what supports and hinders sustainability. For nearly two decades the Government of Kosovo and international partners have supported the return of minorities displaced during the 1998–1999 conflict and March 2004 riots. We draw on interviews with all major stakeholder groups in return programming and on indicative survey data from 499 returnees. Using a framework adapted from Black, Koser and Munk (‘Understanding Voluntary Return’), we focus on the Kosovo return process in recent years. The survey results indicate some sustainability but high differentiation in returnees’ satisfaction. This warrants concern, as differences in returnee perspectives run along already conflictual ethnic and spatial fault lines. In post-conflict settings, sustainable return and reintegration require more than the provision of services – they require nuanced understanding of how the shadow of conflict shapes returnee experiences. Finally, we question the orthodoxy of return discourse and highlight critical factors to support sustainable return elsewhere.

Uma nobreza não muito regional. O papel político e social dos infanções de Astorga na primeira metade do século XI (1028-1065)

A través de la documentación tenemos conocimiento de varios momentos de inestabilidad en las tierras occidentales del reino leonés después de la muerte de Alfonso V, en particular en el intervalo que antecedió a la consagración de su hijo como el futuro Vermudo III. Sin embargo, algunos de estos episodios se estarían gestando desde tiempo atrás por diferentes actores sociales, a saber, ciertos miembros de familias condales, como Rodrigo Romaniz, y algunos de los infanzones terrae de que nos hablan esos mismos documentos, como Ecta Rapínatiz y Ero Salítiz. Estos miembros de las familias de la nobleza local que aquí elegimos analizar se caracterizan por la detentación de la autoridad en sus áreas de influencia —siendo una compañía frecuente de los miembros de las familias condales—, por la movilidad de su actuación política y por protagonizar muchos y variados episodios que atentan contra el patrimonio ajeno, especialmente clerical. La llegada al trono leonés de Fernando I traerá cierto orden social a las tierras del reino, con la devolución, voluntaria o forzosa, de varias de estas propiedades a la iglesia. [pt] Através da documentação temos conhecimentode vários momentos de instabilidade nas terras ocidentais do reino leonês depois da morte de Afonso V, em particular durante o intervalo que antecedeu a sagração do seu filho como o futuro Vermudo III. Contudo, alguns destes episódios já estariam a medrar em tempos anteriores no seio de diferentes actores sociais, entre os quais, certos membros de famílias condais, como Rodrigo Romaniz, e alguns dos “infanzones terrae” de que nos falam esses mesmo documentos, como Ecta Rapínatiz y Ero Salítiz. Estes membros das famílias da nobreza local que aqui escolhemos analizar e acompanhar caracterizam-se por deterem uma certa autoridade nas suas áreas de influência —sendo mesmo uma companhia frequente no séquito dos membros das famílias condais—, pela mobilidade da sua actuação política e pelo protagonismo em muitos e variados episódios que atentam contra o património alheio, particularmente clerical. A chegada ao trono de Fernando I trouxe uma certa ordem social aos diversos territórios do reino, com a devolução voluntária, e em certos casos forçada, das propriedades entretanto usurpadas.

DISCOURSE OF REFUGEES OPERATION SCHEME AFTER ISSUANCE OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NUMBER 125 OF 2016 ON THE TREATMENT OF FREIGN REFUGEES IN IMMIGRATION PERSPECTIVE


 
 As a state of law, Indonesia places legal norms as the fundamental foundation of the state. The issuance of Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016 on the Treatment of Foreign Refugees, has provided guidelines for Indonesia to deal with the existence of asylum seekers and refugees. The formulation of the problem studied is how the refugee control scheme after the issuance of Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016 in the immigration perspective. The research method uses normative legal research. The monitoring of refugees in Indonesia, which is imposed on the Immigration Detention Centre, has been well implemented. The monitoring scheme at the time it was found, at the shelter, outside the shelter, was dispatched to the destination country, voluntary repatriation, and at the time of deportation did not answer the problems related to the presence and activities of refugees while in Indonesia. Although the operation scheme has been clearly provided in Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016, it needs to be refined with technical regulations, such as the Standard Operating Procedure that regulates the mechanism of controlling refugees for all Immigration Detention Centre. Another issue of concern is the issue of funding, officials in charge of refugee control, and the imposition of sanctions if there is negligence in the case of such operation.
 
 

Performing freedom in the Dutch deportation regime: bureaucratic persuasion and the enforcement of ‘voluntary return’

ABSTRACT How do states relate to undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers once they have been formally rejected? A growing amount of research has been devoted to the role of government and NGO workers in executing soft-deportation policy through ‘voluntary return’ programmes. Many of these studies convincingly argue that voluntary return most often is anything but voluntary. However, less effort has been spent answering the question of why, then, departure is still constructed as voluntary and how this construction is realised in practice. This paper explores the work of street-level bureaucrats in charge of expelling unauthorised immigrants from the Netherlands in case expulsion cannot stem from the law alone and deportation workers deploy extra-legal strategies to carry out exclusionary policy goals. In these cases, we show that, in addition to building trust relationships with migrants, government and NGO workers ostensibly emphasise their clients’ self-determination and agency. By examining the performative construction of ‘voluntariness’ in highly asymmetrical interview rituals, this article brings attention to an under-theorised condition of the conduct of conduct in the era of governmentality: if modern bureaucratic power, however punitive, must govern primarily by addressing the freedom of free agents, then it must ensure the interpretation of conduct as voluntary.

Unresolved and Unresolvable? Tensions in the Refugee Regime

AbstractWorldwide, growing numbers of refugees are pushed from their homes. At the same time, fewer and fewer are able to access so-called “durable solutions” to their displacement. This has prompted a flurry of efforts to repair the foundering refugee regime. Many such efforts attempt, implicitly or explicitly, to resolve tensions between legal principles, moral duties, and national interests surrounding refugees. As part of a roundtable on “Balancing Legal Norms, Moral Values, and National Interests,” this essay questions the drive toward oversimplification that has characterized these debates, recognizing that some such tensions are “baked into” the problem of refugeehood. While debates have typically focused on the obligation to admit refugees, and on “responsibility sharing,” I advance the conversation by exploring how law, morality, and national interests are entangled in efforts to support durable solutions for refugees, focusing on voluntary repatriation. What does recognition of the intrinsic and in some senses irreconcilable tensions in the refugee regime mean for efforts to support solutions? I argue that advancing durable solutions, however imperfect, for refugees does not mean definitively overcoming these tensions, but rather navigating them to identify context-specific opportunities to reposition refugees as full and equal citizens as a critical step toward reducing their precarity.

MEDITERRANEAN MIGRATION: Voluntary Repatriation

MEDITERRANEAN MIGRATION: Voluntary Repatriation

Beyond Voluntary Return: A critical ethnographic study of refugees who departed Israel ‘voluntarily’

Against a global backdrop of anti-refugee discourse, governments are increasingly paying refugees to repatriate. This critical ethnographic study explores the lived experiences of refugees who participated in Israel’s Voluntary Return program. The data were derived from in-depth interviews with refugees who had departed Israel. Participants highlighted the various exile-related stressors that led them to choose to leave and reflected on the ambiguity inherent in the term ‘voluntary’. Post-departure, participants continued to experience significant psychological distress. In light of popular perceptions that repatriation is an optimal solution to refugees’ displacement, the implications of these findings for interventions and policies are considered.

The Usefulness of Reintegration Support: The Dual Perspectives of Returnees and Caseworkers

AbstractMany European countries have developed assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) programmes to support the return and reintegration of migrants who do not have a legal residence permit. There is substantial involvement of social-care professionals in the implementation of these programmes. However, the contested nature of AVRR programmes has limited an in-depth understanding of the exact nature of reintegration support and the ways it affects migrants’ lives after return. Through exploring the usefulness of AVRR support from the perspectives of those receiving it and experienced caseworkers providing it in the context of the Belgian AVRR return programme to Armenia and Georgia, this article contributes to a better understanding of the possibilities and constraints of reintegration support. Based on interviews with seventy-nine returnees during the initial two years after their return, interviews with the caseworkers and observations of day-to-day interactions between both parties, four different understandings of the ‘usefulness’ of reintegration support are delineated: reintegration support (i) as central and necessary financial support; (ii) as insufficient, decontextualised and deceptive support; (iii) as selective support; and lastly (iv) as humane and negotiated support. These understandings then evoke reflections on the implications for those stakeholders developing or implementing AVRR support programmes.

Internally Displaced Persons-IDPS Stereotypes and Perceptions in Nigeria

As Nigeria continues to grapple with the unprecedented rise in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), interventions for IDPs is now a humanitarian priority. This paper examines the social perceptions of IDPs, humanitarian responses bordering around building long term solutions, provision of specific needs for integration, voluntary return, fighting trauma, and economic isolation. It further recommends how responses should be better harmonized for sustained impact, with an ultimate goal to have IDPs return back home to normal or improved levels oflife - providing safety and security, sustained livelihoods, employment, housing and shelter, as against settling perpetually in camps.

‘Who Is British Music?’ Placing Migrants in National Music History

In 2013, trucks and vans were driving across London, bearing the message ‘In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest.’ These mobile billboards declared the number of arrests that had taken place ‘in your area’ in the previous week and provided a number to which people could text the message ‘HOME’ to initiate voluntary repatriation. In 2016, Theresa May, who had organised this scheme as home secretary, became prime minister, following the upheaval caused by the country's plebiscite to leave the European Union. One of the main strands of argument of the successful ‘Brexit’ campaign centred on the ‘deep public anxiety . . . about uncontrolled immigration’ and promised to reduce numbers of immigrants to the country. This desire to control the nation's borders continued to dominate the official soundscape of Britain's government. At the 2016 annual Tory conference, May endeavoured to draw clear lines on issues of belonging, territory, citizenship, and the fuzzy notion of British values, discursively excluding not only migrants, but also anyone with an international(ist) outlook from the national debate: ‘If you believe you are a citizen of the world’, she posited, ‘you are a citizen of nowhere.’

Assessing the Effectiveness of Pay-to-Go Policies: Evidence from Spain’s Voluntary Return Program1

Pay-to-go programs are incentive-based policies implemented by immigrant-receiving nations with the intention of enticing migrants home. Spain introduced such a program following its recent economic downturn. We assess its effectiveness using a difference-in-differences methodology. We test if the policy lowered the unemployment likelihood of eligible migrants by comparing changes in their propensity to be unemployed from before to after program implementation to changes experienced by similar non-eligible migrants. The Spanish pay-to-go policy did not entice immigrants to return home, except among Latin Americans, who enjoyed statistically and economically significant reductions in their unemployment likelihood following program implementation.

PARENTAL ALIENATION WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE 1980 HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION: THE BRAZILIAN PERSPECTIVE

The number of cases of relocation of children and adolescents to Brazil has increased significantly in the last years. One must consider that abducting or wrongfully retaining children from the places of their habitual residence prevents them from enjoying fundamental rights such as those to historical, social and cultural identities and even the right enjoy full family life with both sides of their families. This article shows that unilateral relocation of children to Brazil (as well their wrongful retention in Brazilian territory) in violation of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, is actually one form of Parental Alienation practiced in cross border circumstances, pursuant to Federal Law nº 12.318, from August 26, 2010 (Brazilian Parental Alienation Act). On that sense, Brazilian administrative and judicial authorities must not only engender public policies and strategies to enhance acknowledgement about rules of the Convention among Brazilian communities living abroad, they must also encourage extrajudicial agreements between interested parties to increase the rates of voluntary return of abducted or retained children. In cases brought to courts, since Parental Alienation is a form of emotional abuse of the child, magistrates must count on the opinion of interdisciplinary advisors before considering opinion of the abducted children in the ruling of the return order. In sum, the search for international cooperation with other Contracting States of the 1980 Hague Convention and the respect of the best interest of the child must be in permanent harmony.

PARENTAL ALIENATION WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE 1980 HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION: THE BRAZILIAN PERSPECTIVE

The number of cases of relocation of children and adolescents to Brazil has increased significantly in the last years. One must consider that abducting or wrongfully retaining children from the places of their habitual residence prevents them from enjoying fundamental rights such as those to historical, social and cultural identities and even the right enjoy full family life with both sides of their families. This article shows that unilateral relocation of children to Brazil (as well their wrongful retention in Brazilian territory) in violation of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, is actually one form of Parental Alienation practiced in cross border circumstances, pursuant to Federal Law nº 12.318, from August 26, 2010 (Brazilian Parental Alienation Act). On that sense, Brazilian administrative and judicial authorities must not only engender public policies and strategies to enhance acknowledgement about rules of the Convention among Brazilian communities living abroad, they must also encourage extrajudicial agreements between interested parties to increase the rates of voluntary return of abducted or retained children. In cases brought to courts, since Parental Alienation is a form of emotional abuse of the child, magistrates must count on the opinion of interdisciplinary advisors before considering opinion of the abducted children in the ruling of the return order. In sum, the search for international cooperation with other Contracting States of the 1980 Hague Convention and the respect of the best interest of the child must be in permanent harmony.

PARENTAL ALIENATION WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE 1980 HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION: THE BRAZILIAN PERSPECTIVE

The number of cases of relocation of children and adolescents to Brazil has increased significantly in the last years. One must consider that abducting or wrongfully retaining children from the places of their habitual residence prevents them from enjoying fundamental rights such as those to historical, social and cultural identities and even the right enjoy full family life with both sides of their families. This article shows that unilateral relocation of children to Brazil (as well their wrongful retention in Brazilian territory) in violation of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, is actually one form of Parental Alienation practiced in cross border circumstances, pursuant to Federal Law nº 12.318, from August 26, 2010 (Brazilian Parental Alienation Act). On that sense, Brazilian administrative and judicial authorities must not only engender public policies and strategies to enhance acknowledgement about rules of the Convention among Brazilian communities living abroad, they must also encourage extrajudicial agreements between interested parties to increase the rates of voluntary return of abducted or retained children. In cases brought to courts, since Parental Alienation is a form of emotional abuse of the child, magistrates must count on the opinion of interdisciplinary advisors before considering opinion of the abducted children in the ruling of the return order. In sum, the search for international cooperation with other Contracting States of the 1980 Hague Convention and the respect of the best interest of the child must be in permanent harmony.