Notes from Chiang Mai: AIU contributes to regional research on forced displacement issues in Southeast Asia
Mr. Afifi Nordin, a Lecturer of Politics and International Relations at the School of Business and Social Sciences (SBSS), Albukhary International University (AIU) has been selected to participate in an intensive research training workshop titled “Researching Forced Displacement Issues in Southeast Asia”, hosted by Chiang Mai University’s Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD).
The workshop, which received 89 applications from across the region, shortlisted only a select group of emerging scholars and practitioners. Afifi was the sole participant selected from Malaysia, joining peers from Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, and postgraduate students from Chiang Mai University who are currently researching forced displacement.
Structured around three core components, the workshop aimed to deepen scholarly engagement with the multidimensional challenges of forced displacement in Southeast Asia. It facilitated critical discussions with leading regional scholars on the prevailing disciplinary approaches and the diverse drivers of displacement, ranging from conflict and state-society tensions to environmental injustices and institutional responses.
Second, participants conducted comparative analyses of regional case studies, assessing policy frameworks, humanitarian interventions, and community-led strategies to address displacement across ASEAN nations.
The third component of the workshop focused on methodological skill-building, equipping participants with tools for ethical research design, data collection with vulnerable populations, and developing paper proposals through a structured peer-review process.
Throughout the workshop, several pressing topics were explored, including Conflict and climate change-driven displacement; humanitarian responses along the Myanmar-Thailand border; environmental displacement in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake; human rights and displacement in the Philippines; and national and regional policies on forced displacement.
Distinguished speakers included: Prof. Bhanubhatra Jittiang, Prof. Naruemon Thabchumpon, and Prof. Carl Middleton (Chulalongkorn University); Dr. Nyi Nyi Kyaw (University of Bristol); Prof. Mak Sithirith (Cambodia Development Resource Institute); Prof. Amporn Jirattikorn and Dr. Sirada Khemanniththai (Chiang Mai University); and Attorney Reinna Bermudez (Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines).
As part of his contribution to the workshop’s collaborative edited volume, to be published by RCSD, Afifi presented his proposed paper titled “The Governing of Forced Migration in a Non-Signatory State: Lessons from Malaysia.” The paper critically examines Malaysia’s management of forced migration, despite its non-signatory status to the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Through his participation, Afifi contributes to a growing body of regional scholarship from Malaysia focused on human mobility, human rights, and public policy in Southeast Asia.
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