Shum, Terence Chun Tat. 2020. Asylum‐Seeking Journeys in Asia: Refugees in Hong Kong and Bangkok. Routledge: Oxfordshire and New York. ISBN 978–138055192–3. 200 pages.
| Published date | 01 October 2021 |
| Author | Jiraporn Laocharoenwong |
| Date | 01 October 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12909 |
International Migration. 2021;59:279–280.
|
279
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
Received: 17 June 20 21
|
Accepted: 11 July 2021
DOI: 10 .1111/imig .12909
BOOK REVIEW
Shum, Terence Chun Tat. 2020. Asylum- Seeking
Journeys in Asia: Refugees in Hong Kong and
Bangkok. Routledge: Oxfordshire and New York.
ISBN 978–138055192–3. 200 pages.
Asylum- seeking Journeys in Asia: Refugees in Hong Kong and Bangkok, written by Terence Chun Tat Shum, analyses
the lives of refugees who are stuck in long- term transit in Hong Kong and Bangkok anticipating eventual resettlement
to a third country. The book stands out by its rich ethnographic detail. Thick descriptions follow the long “journeys” of
refugees and asylum seekers during several phases: before their departures, on arrival, while stuck in transition and
then deciding how to live their lives during this transitory, but extended period. Along these journeys, Shum exam-
ines how individuals become refugees, how the identity of the refugee is produced and re- produced by international
norms and legal practices, and how this is projected onto them. Shum's analysis and discussion are informed by ref-
ugee voices and narratives, bringing to the fore their actual, lived experiences. An ethnographic vignette embroiders
the chapters together from the beginning of the refugee journeys to the end of the book.
The book is divided into 7 chapters. It begi ns with a historic al perspective and patterns of asylum- s eeking in
Hong Kong and Bangkok be tween 1950 and 2 000. The book continues with different journeys of re fugees and
asylum seekers from around the world seeking refuge in Hong Kong and Bangkok. The two countries are chosen
because they are tou rist destinations where ref ugees can enter on a tourist visa while cont inuing to work on their
asylum- seeking status, but i t remains a b it unclear what the rationale for the comp arison is. Sinc e neither Hong
Kong nor Thailand has signed the UN Refugee Convention, refugees and asylum seekers are considered undocu-
mented in the two countries . Being non- signator y states, Hong Kong and Thailand use immigrat ion laws to govern
refugees. Shum makes an interesting poin t about how t he perception a nd understan ding in Hong Kong of what
constitutes a legal docu ment differ fr om the point of view of the host state and the refugee s. For refugees , the
only legal document that they have is a UNHCR status in the form of a card, but this document is not recognized by
the Hong Kong auth orities. Falling into “illegal s tatus,” refugees therefo re lack any protection, whi ch marginalizes
them in the hos t society. In Bangkok, ref ugees face violence f rom the Thai state. Ho use raids are common, an d if
they do not bribe t he police, refugees are put in ja il or in a detention centre. Shum t herefore argues that Th ailand
deals with refugees by “insti lling them with anxiety.” The last t wo chapters highli ght transnational networks and
practices of refugees and asylum s eekers in Bangkok and Hon g Kong as well as their negotia tion of “home” while
they are stuck in transit. Being unprotec ted by the host sta te, refugees also seek help from religious net works
and build their own net works of trus t among themse lves where they borrow money a nd distribute useful infor-
mation and help com forting each other whe n their cases are denied. T hrough this network, t heir lives seem to be
bearable.
The centr al themes of this book r evolve around t he refugee govern ing systems i n Hong Kong a nd Bangkok,
coping st rategies of refu gees, and tr ansnational netwo rks. The bo ok's analysis of governing syste ms and how i t
affects th e lives of refugees is much influenced by A gamben’s (2005) concept of the st ate of exception where the
“form of law” has become indis tinguishable from life itself an d constitute the “nihilism in which refugee are livi ng.”
© 2021 The Author s. Internationa l Migration © 2021 IOM
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