1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910520097003321

Autore

Somiah Vilashini

Titolo

Irregular Migrants and the Sea at the Borders of Sabah, Malaysia : Pelagic Alliance / / by Vilashini Somiah

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2021

ISBN

9783030904173

9783030904166

Edizione

[1st ed. 2021.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (187 pages)

Collana

Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship, , 2662-2610

Disciplina

363.285

325.5953

Soggetti

Emigration and immigration - Social aspects

Emigration and immigration

Ethnology

Political anthropology

Economic anthropology

Sociology of Migration

Human Migration

Sociocultural Anthropology

Political and Economic Anthropology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. Introduction: An Ecology of Irregularity -- 2. Kami Urang 'Sini' (We are from 'Here'): Agency across Equivocal Space -- 3. Bilang yang Nakal-nakal Kami (We Speak of Naughty Things): Female -- 4. Maritime Journeys and Illicit Returns -- 5. Haunted Shores: Youths in Pursuit of Belonging on the Shores of the Sulu Sea -- 6. Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

This book is an exploration of the relationship between irregular migrants, many originating from southern Philippines and the sea, in their struggle against the realities of state power in Sabah. As their numbers grow exponentially into the 21st century, the only solution currently provided by the Malaysian government is routine repatriation. Yet, despite increased border security, they continue to return. Thus



the question: why do deported migrants return, time and again, despite the serious risk of being caught? This book explores the ways in which these irregular migrants contest inconvenient national sea boundaries, the trauma of detention and deportation, and other impositions of state power by drawing on supernatural support from the sea itself. The sea empowers them, and through individual narratives of the sea, we learn that the migrants' encounter with the state and its legal system only intensifies rather than discourages their relationship with the Malaysian state.