Stories surrounding “boat people” have made regular headlines since the MV Tampa sailed into Australian waters in September 2001 carrying 433 refugees.
Now, new research by Dr Melissa Curley from The School of Political Science and International Studies (POLSIS) and her Hong Kong-based colleague Professor Wong Siu-lun has examined the implications of viewing migration through the prism of “security”.
In a new edited book titled Security and Migration in Asia: The dynamics of securitisation (Routledge), the authors present their own research in this area along with seven other contributors.
“The tendency to link refugee and irregular migration flows with security, as in the case of the Tampa, should be placed under academic scrutiny,” Dr Curley said.
“What we seek to do through our research is understand contemporary population flows in the historical context of migration patterns in East Asia over the last 300 years, highlighting that historical continuities are at play.”
The book originated from a symposium on illegal migration and non-traditional security held in Beijing in 2004, with the inter-disciplinary collection of contributors fusing views and knowledge from fields including international relations, migration studies, history and sociology.
Covering geographic areas including China, central Asia and the Russian far East, the book includes research on human trafficking and people smuggling, financing illegal migration and links to organised crime and the “securitisation” of illegal migration in sending, transit and receiving countries.
“While the movement of people within the Asian region is not a new phenomenon, the connection of forms of migration to security is an issue that is a novel challenge to governments in the 21st century,” Dr Curley said.
“This research goes some way to understanding ways in which to frame debates about population flows in an era of globalisation.”
Media: Dr Curley (07 3346 9054, m.curley@uq.edu.au) or Naomi Smith at POLSIS (07 3365 1524, naomi.smith@uq.edu.au)
