Over the border and under the radar: can illegal migrants be active citizens?
Clarke, Matthew
Clarke, Matthew
Citations
Altmetric:
Titre
Publication date
2009-11-01
Document type
Journal article
Pages
15
Author(s)
Advisors
Editor(s)
Other Contributors
Affiliation
ePub Date
Submitted date
Subject
Local subject classification
MeSH
Country
Collections
Description
Active citizens can become a powerful driver of development by holding to popular account those who traditionally wield decision-making power at the local and national levels. Active citizenship draws from a long history of understanding the importance of community participation and ownership of development interventions. However, in spite of its inherent strengths, active citizenship may not be a possible (or optimal) outcome in all circumstances. This article argues for the realistic expectation of active citizenship (and indeed participation) of one specific sub-population in Thailand, where the overwhelming majority of illegal migrants (of an estimated total of 800,000-1.5 million) are Burmese. Their precarious existence as illegal migrants compounds the development needs that confront any poor community. This in turn hinders their ability to engage actively in the development process. This article reviews the lessons learned by a Thai-based NGO that has worked with illegal Burmese migrants for more than 15 years. It discusses the unique strengths and weakness of these illegal communities, whether or not it is appropriate to seek to engage them as active citizens, and the implications for NGOs working with such communities. It suggests that the unique role that NGOs must play, in cases where public participation could endanger the lives of community members, is that of advocate-guardians, whereby they assume the role of active citizen on behalf of the community in question and simultaneously provide development interventions and advocate on its behalf.<p>This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis.</p>
Language
English
Other Titles
Abstract
Citation
Journal
Development in Practice
Journal Theme
Volume
19
Issue
8
Research Unit
Table of contents
Series
ISSN
0961-4524
EISSN
1364-9213