'Reject Rohingya and send them back!’: digital discourses of nationalism and xenophobia in the time of pandemic
The difficulties brought by the implementation of the cordon sanitaire to contain the spread of COVID-19, paired with longstanding local grievances, have led to an explosion of xenophobic sentiments towards refugees in Malaysia. The prospect of more refugee boats arriving after hundreds were turned...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book Chapter |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
Routledge
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/108321/19/108321_%27Reject%20Rohingya%20and%20send%20them%20back%21%E2%80%99edited.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/108321/20/108321_%27Reject%20Rohingya%20and%20send%20them%20back%21%E2%80%99edited_SCOPUS.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/108321/ https://books.google.com.my/books?hl=en&lr=&id=YcnhEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT85&dq=%27Reject+Rohingya+and+Send+Them+Back!%E2%80%99:+Digital+Discourses+of+Nationalism+and+Xenophobia+in+the+time+of+Pandemic&ots=BTAvCRXS2n&sig=AXsEz03aY_w7LslC9-dwUHP29Ss&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q='Reject%20Rohingya%20and%20Send%20Them%20Back!%E2%80%99%3A%20Digital%20Discourses%20of%20Nationalism%20and%20Xenophobia%20in%20the%20time%20of%20Pandemic&f=false |
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| Summary: | The difficulties brought by the implementation of the cordon
sanitaire to contain the spread of COVID-19, paired with longstanding local grievances, have led to an explosion of xenophobic sentiments towards refugees in Malaysia. The prospect of more refugee boats arriving after hundreds were turned away only worsened the situation. This chapter delves into the complex role played by fear and digital affordances as arenas for public debate during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, this chapter focuses on linguistic manifestations of othering in the civil discourse against the Rohingya refugees, which seem to fall neatly into a Us versus Them framework of nationalism. By means of a discourse-historical approach, it examines comments on the online petitions against the
Rohingya refugees in Malaysia on change.org in 2020. This chapter argues that the fight against xenophobia, in any shape or form, must first involve the understanding of how the necessary narratives of belongingness and solidarity of Malaysians turned into hate and hostility against Rohingya refugees. |
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