At its core, my doctoral research concerns the question: ‘Why is a refugee not legally a refugee in Southeast Asia?’

I employ a Feminist- Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) approach and foreground the Rohingya community and their experience as stateless refugees in Southeast Asia to challenge international law and its presumptions around the lack of  regional commitment to refugee protection in the region today. I consider how the British colonial project and its border, immigration, and labour management practices continue to stifle refugees in Southeast Asia through the form of international legal structures and institutions.

Law Foundation of BC Graduate Fellowship Grant 2023