Rethinking Digital Migration Governance in Southeast Asia

Protecting or Restricting Human Rights?

Abstract

This article examines the governmentality and biopolitics of Southeast Asian digital migration governance through the framework of decolonial theory. It unpacks how digital technologies are deployed by states and institutions in the policing of migration, from biometric registration and algorithmic surveillance to the use of AI-assisted databases. The research investigates how these tools condition migrant behaviour, generate new inclusion/exclusion figures, and naturalize surveillance practices. At the biopolitical level, it analyses migrants and refugees as datafied subjects and examines the role of biometric technologies as mediators of access to rights, resources, and humanitarian aid. Decolonial theory is employed to examine the concept of data colonialism and argue that Western technologies and data sustain colonial dependencies and re-produce asymmetrical power relations in migration governance. Drawing on examples from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, the study demonstrates how digital migration governance enhances precarity among migrants and refugees amidst the expansion of state surveillance. Although disaster relief solutions are commonly couched in humanitarian rhetoric, such processes tend to facilitate environments of exclusivism, with limited input by the communities that they are intended to serve. This article interrogates current narratives by emphasizing the importance of decolonization in digital migration governance. It calls for the promotion of local knowledge, technological sovereignty, and community-driven alternatives, that centre the autonomy of migrants and refugees. In doing so, the research engages with broader discussions on the intersections of technology, migration, and power, and calls for more responsible regulation and governance of digital spaces.