Migration Disruption: Crisis and Continuity in the Cambodian Mass Returns¹

Abstract

In 2014, Thailand experienced the mass exodus of 220,000 Cambodian migrant workers, an event precipitated by a military coup and rumors of an impending migrant crackdown. This movement was reportedly the largest in South‐East Asia since the 1970s. Yet while the mass returns were outwardly articulated as a “crisis” moment, migrants largely understood the exodus as a more extreme version of the everyday. The most significant features of the exodus—financial loss, indebtedness, involuntary immobility, and fear of violence and deportation—have been and continue to be regular features of the Cambodian–Thai migration system. In light of these findings, I suggest that taking migration disruptions seriously requires (1) decentering the language and logic of “crisis” and (2) considering what migration disruptions reveal about ordinary times.

Reverse Immigration Effects for Expatriates in Oman During the COVID-19 Pandemic Shock

“…The country’s destination income is negatively related to immigration (Clark et al, 2007 ), while high country risks and conflicts can positively affect migration (Docquier 2018 ). Bylander ( 2018 ) and Dommaraju ( 2020 ) articulated that pandemics act as shocks, causing disruptions in migratory flows. It can be assumed the COVID-19 pandemic will exert similar shocks on intentions to stay.…”

“…This work highlights the understudied aspect of repatriation, which the present data analysis unpacks. Conflicts, social unrest, natural disasters and economic crises are considered immigration disruptions to regular labor immigration patterns (Bylander 2018 ), with the pandemic being no different from a natural disruptor (Liao 2020 ). Human mobility restrictions in response to COVID-19 created disorder among immigrants (Dommaraju 2020 ).…”

Rethinking the biopolitical: Borders, refugees, mobilities…

“…These migrants are regularly deported back to their country of origin. More occasionally, but still regularly, they are commonly subject to mass immigration crackdowns involving the systematic round-up of large portions of foreign nationals and the unceremonious dumping of these populations at the Myanmar border, where they commonly wait in camps or temporary shelters while strategizing how to return home (Bylander, 2018;Franck, 2015).…”

4 Migration research and analysis: Growth, reach and recent contributions

“…A number of IMR articles tackle foundational concepts like citizenship, examining how residential concentration and naturalization rates are linked (Abascal 2017) or offering synthetic overviews of citizenship scholarship in migration studies (Bloemraad and Sheares 2017). Others grapple with popular concepts like "crisis" in public discourse around international migration, highlighting the political work such terms do while also showing how a 'crisis' might feel quite ordinary to migrants already experiencing chronic and slowly unfolding 'crises' of their own (Bylander 2018).…”