It's time to talk about Transnational Repression (TNR)
And in the exact same 10 years, there were
and many more were physically assaulted, digitally threatened, unlawfully deported to origin countries and so on...
This is the untold story.
These ongoing repressions are occurring all over the ASEAN region.
It's time to talk about Transnational Repression,
about threats that follow from here to there and from there to here
is when governments reach across borders to silence dissent among diasporas and exiles who have fled their home country ("Origin country") to seek asylum elsewhere ("Host country").
TNR can be done via various "tactics". For example...
Assassination
Murder of the target
Coercion by Proxy
Threats or physical actions against a family member, loved one, or associate of the targeted exile that are meant to intimidate the exile.
Credible threat
A threat by state officials that is reasonably believed to escalate into transnational repression.
Detention
To be held for more than 12 hours at the origin country government’s request.
Digital threats
A coordinated, purposeful threats with a state-driven link, communicated through a public or private digital medium (including social media and messaging applications).
Enforced disappearance
An incidents in which a person has disappeared and the origin country government is presumed to be responsible.
Mobility controls
An efforts to restrict travel and mobility, including through cancellation of passports, revocation of citizenship, and denial of consular services.
Physical threat
A physical attack that is less likely to result in death.
Rendition
A forcible return to the origin country without legal process, or with only the barest fig leaf of a legal process. This includes cases of abductions, in which a person was taken by the origin country government with little or no involvement by the host country government.
Surveillance by authorities
The monitoring and collection of information on a target by government entities.
Unlawful Deportation
Forcible return with violations of due process to an origin country where the person is liable to be subjected to persecution. This includes practices like incommunicado detention, denial of legal counsel, or expedited proceedings.
Interpol red notice
"Red Notice" is a notice to member state of INTERPOL to locate and arrest once the target is in its terirtory.
Does these "tactics" remind you of any past "incidents" ?
A Thai refugee disappeared while walking back to his resident in Cambodia
A football player arrested by interpol red notice right after landing in Thailand for vacation
More than 100 Uyghurs arrested by Thai authority and deported to China
Mutilated bodies found in Mekhong river
Yes, there are numerous documented cases of governments repressing exiles and diasporas wherever they settle.
And such repression doesn't just affect "the target," nor is its impact limited to the moment when the incident occurs.
Exiles and diasporas are forced to live in fear. Their families become entangled as well.
Family members of exiles and diasporas not only endure long-lasting grief and the burden of legal processes — they are also subjected to repression themselves in many cases of transnational repression (TNR). For example, they may be arrested and detained alongside the exiles or as a means of pressuring them.
That reflects the inadequacy of international human rights protections.
Of course, transnational repression (TNR) is neither new nor distant.
The ASEAN region is both an "origin country" and a "host country" in many TNR cases — leaving numerous exiles, diasporas, and their families scarred by its impact.
Can you guess how many exiles and diaspora members have been affected by transnational repression (TNR) cases in which an ASEAN country is either the origin or the host?