Forced Migration and Transnational Crime in Southeast Asia

Migration research and literature exist on a polarized continuum between “force” and “will” of individuals or collective groups who choose to relocate across geographical space for ecological, social, economic, or political reasons. Both voluntary and involuntary migration require migrants to adapt to a new place, norms, and livelihood, but forced migration presents distinctive difficulties, vulnerabilities, and traditional and nontraditional threats, such as terrorism, arms smuggling, and human and drug trafficking, that threaten individuals, societies, and states. Scholars and analysts suggest that migration and security are intertwined, yet, whether migration causes security threats or security causes migration, there is no clear answer, hence requiring a comprehensive analysis and correlation. At current times, Southeast Asia is a source, transit route, and destination for the growing number of displaced individuals from violence and persecution, and these 11 nations (Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) account for a large share of the world’s displaced people, compared to advanced north nations. In this chapter, an extensive document analysis of secondary materials has been conducted to link transnational crimes and forced migrations to security issues. This chapter uses four models—importation, strain, cultural conflict, and bias—to suggest a tentative causal link between transnational crimes and forced migration in Southeast Asia. According to the chapter’s findings, protecting people’s rights in Southeast Asia from the security risks posed by forced migration—driven by political, economic, and environmental factors—is becoming more urgent.