Fear and Sanctuary : Burmese Refugees in Thailand / Hazel J. Lang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lang, Hazel J., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Refugees--Government policy--Thailand.

Refugees.

Refugees--Burma.

Burma--Politics and government--1988-.

Burma.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (240 pages) : illustrations, maps

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

It is widely recognized that the original conception of 'the refugee' contained in the 1951 UN Convention on refugees inadequately reflects the growing challenges of refugee displacement in the contemporary era. The problem of protection confronting increasing numbers of non-'classic' refugees highlights the need to expand horizons for thinking about refugee protection. In examining the predicament of the Burmese refugees in Thailand, this study addresses some important challenges in a non-'classic' context and shows how these necessarily re-configure our approach to understanding refugee protection. The notion of the refugee in this study encompasses the consequences for persons forced to flee due to fear and socio-political violence associated directly and indirectly with war. In particular, this dissertation is an in-depth study into the nature and causes of the Burmese refugees in Thailand, with a special focus on the Mons. The study is concerned with how to approach the problem of protection, seeking to grapple with both the nature of the root and precipitating causes of displacement and the political contingencies of cross-border sanctuary. The analysis and conceptualization of this refugee predicament is grounded in, first, displacement occurring in the context of internal, 'low-intensity' war and, second, the condition of (potentially vulnerable) unrecognized' status in their cross-border havens. The primary purpose of the study is to determine and investigate the nature of displacement and sanctuary in this regard, and to analyze and reflect upon the implications for refugee protection gleaned from a comprehensive approach to the problem. In terms of displacement, it focuses on how the nature and effects of insurgency and counterinsurgency warfare cast civilian populations into a cycle of fear and insecurity. The study pursues a context-specific analysis of the issue combined with broader thematic reflection. It is informed by time spent in the field on the Thai-Burmese border and draws on a wide range of literature across academic disciplinary boundaries.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1. Introduction: Fear and Sanctuary

Chapter 2. Burma: History, Ethnicity, and Civil War

Chapter 3. War and Civilian Displacement

Chapter 4. Sanctuary in Thailand

Chapter 5. The Mon Refugees in Thailand, 1990-1996

Chapter 6. Refugees and the Border

Chapter 7. Asylum in Bangkok

Chapter 8. Conclusion

Appendix. Acronyms

Bibliography

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

1-5017-1936-X

OCLC:

1080550723