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DOES HUMAN SECURITY BRING ANYTHING NEW TO REFUEE PROTECTION?

DOES HUMAN SECURITY(HS) BRING ANYTHING NEW TO REFUEE PROTECTION? A salient question in the search for meaning for physical security that has reoriented or at least given preponderance to HS since the Cold War was “Whose security?”. This is a question that has been asked repeatedly in security discourse. However, the previous realist assertion was no longer viable in the century to come. The reorientation of security was in some sense necessary at that time, at least to rub along with the democratic consensus to cut down funding for physical security. A shift in orientation from state to individual or community, at least in normative advocacy, seemed to make up for the vacuum (Paris, 2001). Although in reality all this normative advocacy made little sense in policy application, David Chandler opinioned that human security as a concept did not ‘bark’ (Chandler, 2008). Its natural progression of time reached its end. Such was the lifetime of a neologism. However, it is my opinion that H...

Who are the Rohingya? Contested claims of their origin.

  WHO ARE THE ROHINGYA? T he question is simple, but answering it is complex. The Rohingya are an ethnic, religious, and linguistic minority group from the northern Rakhine state (Harvard Divinity School, 2021). They are distinct from the major Burman group and share cultural traits that are more similar to those of South Asia (Matisoff, 2023). The Rohingya are predominantly Muslims who claim to be the descendants of Indo-Aryans but assert their indigeneity to western Myanmar, having lived there since precolonial times (Blakemore, 2019). However, their origin and identity are highly debated among scholars. C. R. Abrar citing Nicolaus (1995) argues that the influx of Muslim traders from Afghanistan, India, Persia, Turkey, and the Arabian Peninsula merged with the previous Muslim community to form the Rohingya community, which brought about a distinct dialect known as the Rohingya language. It is worth mentioning that the Rohingya language shares similarities with the C...

THE ASIAN LABORATORY OF HUMAN SECURITY AND REFUGEES

  THE ASIAN LABORATORY OF HUMAN SECURITY AND REFUGEES The 21st century has the potential to be recognized as the era dominated by Asian influence and achievements, especially in terms of Human Security (HS) (Kim, 2010). HS has an Asian origin, as evidenced by the prominent role of Japan in advancing a HS agenda of ‘freedom from want’ that transcends the state-centric approach and prioritizes the well-being of individuals (Acharya, 2001). In addition, influential scholars such as Mahbubul Haq and Amartya Sen, have Asian roots, and along with many other Asian academics who have contributed to shaping a distinctive Asian perspective on HS. The Asian view of HS differs from the allegedly narrow Westphalian view that focuses on the physical securitization of states. This view puts a premium on the principles of sovereignty and noninterference. However, as Kim stresses, these principles are not new or uniquely Asian (Kim, 2010). What is new is how the international system has changed...