Abstract
Often portrayed as a ‘state of exception’ (Agamben, 1995), refugee camps are typically associated with images of anarchy, disorder, violence or insecurity. In part, these perceptions can be attributed to the dearth of comprehensive books that focus on existing governance and political systems inside refugee camps, with the exception of a few seminal works (e.g. Agier, 2011; Lischer, 2005; Turner, 2010).
Governing Refugees: Justice, Order and Legal Pluralism is a major contribution to this field of study. McConnachie marshals detailed empirical evidence to challenge prevailing assumptions and argues that refugee camps should be recognized as vibrant spaces where political, cultural and social lives emerge, extending beyond a conception of camps as ‘exceptional’ legal and political spaces. Drawing upon in-depth fieldwork in the Karen refugee camps in Thailand, this book elucidates everyday practices of governance and the administration of justice in the quotidian lives of camp populations.
The book consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1 ‘Governing refugees’ sets out the scope of the book and introduces key concepts such as agency, sovereignty and legal pluralism and also provides a brief note on methodology as well as a synopsis of each chapter. Chapter 2 ‘The Karen in Burma: conflict and displacement’ provides an introduction to Burma’s ethnic politics and the Karen experiences of colonization and nationalism. It also explains the historical context of conflict and forced displacement in Southeast Burma, leading to the creation of the refugee camps on the Thai–Burma border, which now host about 130,000 Karen people.
Chapter 3 ‘The camp community’ reveals the refugee camps in Thailand as places for the formulation and practice of communal identities based upon refugees’ distinctive cultures, social norms and moral principles. The author identifies three overlapping ‘communities’ inside the camp: a community of shared identity as ‘camp people’ or refugees; an imagined community of ‘the nation’; and finally a community of ‘shared governance’. This chapter particularly delves into how an ethno-national Karen community is reconstructed in the refugee camps through narrative, memory, language and clothing.
Chapter 4: ‘The governance of palimpsest: order maintenance in Southeast Burma’ considers the historical context of law and governance within Karen territories of Burma and investigates how certain practices have become palimpsest, reflected in current camp leadership and governance in exile. The chapter reveals the influence of preexisting justice and ordering systems in Southeast Burma – village sovereignty, moral narratives, animism, Christianity and the Karen National Union’s law (the de facto state authority within Karen state) – and traces the extent to which these various sources of authority have been ‘imported’ to the refugee camps in Thailand.
Chapter 5: ‘Sovereigns and denizens: camp governance and “the refugees”’ focuses on the complexity embedded in governance and regulations inside the camps. Whilst Karen systems of self-government have enabled autonomous camp management, refugees are not the sole authority with a governing role. Refugee community leaders are required to deal with other authorities such as the Royal Thai Government and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), both of which have different governing interests and orientations. The chapter addresses the ways in which governance in the camps necessarily involves multiple actors with roles in camp management, creating a complicated and dynamic governance environment that significantly impacts the quotidian lives of the camp population.
Chapter 6: ‘The struggle for ownership of justice’ further delves into the administration of camp justice vis-à-vis these pluralistic relationships and ideologies. The Thai government has historically done little to police internal camp affairs and the vast majority of justice issues in the refugee camps are resolved by refugees and their community representatives. However, following decades in which security and justice issues have been absent from international policy agendas, access to justice has more recently become a priority for UNHCR and other international institutions. Programmes by these international actors have included the creation of legal assistance centres, which provide assistance by referring cases to Thai court, as well as efforts to define jurisdiction and procedures that are to be used by camp justice systems. The chapter investigates the ways in which refugee-led camp justice systems have interacted with some of the key programmes implemented by international agencies.
Chapter 7: ‘Enacting interlegality: human rights and local justice’ analyses the normative consequences of a pluralistic legal environment. Drawing upon the concept of interlegality – the interactions between porous legal orders, this chapter particularly looks into refugees’ responses to two areas of human rights that are considered priorities for UNHCR and other relief organizations: women’s rights and children’s rights. The chapter ends with a discussion about the impact of the legally pluralistic environment and the resulting opportunities for manipulation by refugees who are able to ‘forum shop’ between different legal orders in order to obtain the most favourable outcome. The final chapter – ‘Beyond encampment’ – consolidates findings and restates the central themes of the book. McConnachie outlines some possible reasons for why the Karen camps in Thailand have remained relatively stable when so many other camps do not and offers broader implications of this research in efforts to promote refugee ‘self-reliance’.
One of the most striking and recurrent themes throughout the book is the dynamic and often contested interplay among plural governance systems in the camp and the impact on refugees’ daily lives, including their cultural and ethnic identities and values. Whilst refugee-led camp representation built functional self-governance structures that were effectively transplanted from Karen community life, as camp inhabitants, refugees are also subject to the exercise of sovereign authority by the host state and international humanitarian agencies. Within this site of institutional pluralism and contestation, the three main actors – refugee leaders, international organizations and the Thai government – seek to exercise their authority through camp governance, occasionally leading to power struggles.
Inevitably, a multiplicity of governance structures invites clashes between different values, morals and justice. Such contestation is manifested when international agencies promote transplanting international human rights standards to refugee populations in the areas of gender equality and child protection. Although global rights standards differ from traditional understandings of gender and generational norms in Karen society, women’s rights promotion by the international agencies has been relatively smoothly accepted by camp leadership and residents. In contrast, the promotion of youth and children’s rights is largely seen as an imposition and restriction on adult and camp authority, particularly on the ability of camp leaders to respond to youth delinquency and misbehaviour. As these examples illustrate, refugee representatives are required to navigate different sets of demands imposed by external authorities, whilst also pursuing their own agendas in order to secure functional camp governance that is consistent with cultural and ethnic values among camp residents.
What is particularly inspiring about this book is that it presents intriguing research agendas for other scholars and students. Whilst reading, some interesting questions immediately struck me. For instance, to what extent are the findings and observations in these Karen refugee camps applicable for other refugee contexts including Africa and Middle East? Since the Karen refugee camps are comprised virtually of a single ethnicity, how does governance function in refugee camps with mixed ethnicities or nationalities with diverse cultural and social backgrounds? What do governance systems for urban refugees living outside camps look like – do they simply conform to the legal system of the host government or municipalities? Or like the Karen refugees, do they establish their own justice or governance structures in parallel with official legal entities in the host country? These research themes are important but very little scholarship exists on them.
Whilst McConnachie’s book represents a remarkable contribution to the fields of law, human rights and (forced) migration, it will also be a valuable reference for academics and students in the areas of anthropology, criminology as well as regional studies. Crucially, it offers useful implications for practitioners, particularly in light of increasing interest in the rule of law and justice mechanisms in refugee contexts. For these reasons, this inspiring work by McConnachie deserves wider readership among scholars, students and policymakers interested in gaining insights into the legal and political complexities and dynamism taking place inside a space of long-term encampment.