KITA Discourse Series 2024/2: Uncertainties in Forced Maritime Migration: Pushbacks, Non-Rescue, and the Criminalisation of Solidarity

UNCERTAINTIES IN FORCED MARITIME MIGRATION: PUSHBACKS, NON-RESCUE, AND THE CRIMINALISATION OF SOLIDARITY

By:

PROF. ANTJE MISSBACH (Bielefeld University, Germany)
22 February 2024 (Thursday)
10.00 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.
Platform: Hybrid

Despite the repeated occurrence of maritime mass movements and drownings of Rohingya in the Andaman Sea over the last decade, the fatale events at sea tend to be perceived as individual tragedies rather interconnected outcomes of militarized borders and hostile asylum policies in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile the survivors, most often rescued by local fishermen that designated rescue authorities, tend to be seen as reckless risk-takers or pitied as victims of scrupulous smugglers. Yet, the recurring fatalities during onward journeys arising from the forced mass displacement of stateless Rohingya have by now become a routine phenomenon. Sporadic media interest and “crisis talk” among regional stakeholders aside, the collective responses to save lives at sea are rather diminishing than increasing. The refusal to perform duties of rescue has in a way become a new and more cost-efficient form of border protection employed by riparian states. Next to exploring the spatiotemporal logics of such rejections and their consequences for the rejectees, the key interest of this talk lies in the broader societal changes that accompany the criminalisation of solidarity.

Presenter’s Profile

Antje Missbach is Professor of Sociology at Bielefeld University, Germany, specialising in global and transnational migration and mobility. She is the author of Separatist conflict in Indonesia: The long-distance politics of the Acehnese diaspora (Routledge 2012) and Troubled Transit: Asylum seekers stuck in Indonesia (ISEAS, 2015) and co-author of Indonesia: State and Society in Transition (Lynne Rienner, 2019). Her latest book The Criminalisation of People Smuggling in Indonesia and Australia: Asylum out of Reach was published in 2022 (Routledge).

PROGRAMME:

Date: 22 February 2024 (Thursday)
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.
Venue: KITA Meeting Room, 4th Floor, Kolej Keris Mas Administration Building, UKM Bangi Campus
Live Streaming: Zoom & KITA Facebook page

10.00 a.m.: Introduction by Moderator & welcoming remarks

10.10 a.m.: Uncertainties in Forced Maritime Migration: Pushbacks, Non-Rescue, and the Criminalisation of Solidarity – Prof. Antje Missbach

11.00 a.m.: Q & A Session

11.30 a.m. Closing

Join via Zoom

Join via Facebook

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the presentation(s) are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of KITA.