Current Strands and Trends in Forced Migration in Southeast Asia: two case studies from Indonesia

The talk will address the social, political and economic implications of internal forced displacements on affected communities in their endeavor to rebuild their livelihoods after displacement. Starting with some results from a scientific literature review on forced migration research in Southeast Asia that will highlight the immense research gap that exists regarding social science research on internal displacement in Southeast Asian countries, two case studies from Jakarta and Sidoarjo (both Indonesia). The case of Jakarta looks at livelihood recovery strategies of informal settlers that were evicted and relocated to houses of blocks in the name of flood mitigation by the provincial government of Jakarta. The case of Sidoarjo in eastern Java compares different relocation strategies of communities that were displaced after the eruption of the world’s largest mud volcano.