REFUGEES, ASYLUM SEEKERS, AND THEIR RIGHT TO HEALTHCARE: THE LOCALISATION OF GLOBAL NORMS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

The domestic environments in non-signatory states to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and 1967 Protocol present more challenging and complex situations for the localisation of refugee protection norms. This paper seeks to promote an understanding of how various domestic actors participate in the localisation of healthcare rights for refugees and asylum seekers in non-signatory states like Malaysia. This paper contends that despite the influence of the UNHCR, the Malaysian government opts for limited localisation of global norms in its formal policies. This is because global norms, specifically those related to the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, have not achieved a high domestic salience among Malaysian politicians and the public. This research later demonstrates that regional norms and pre-existing domestic norms conflict with global norms, and this impedes the localisation of healthcare rights for the forcibly displaced in Malaysia. On the other hand, non-state actors are more receptive of global norms and demonstrate greater agency in localising healthcare rights for refugees and asylum seekers than the Malaysian government. In response to the reluctance of the Malaysian government and general disengagement of the public, non-state actors have emerged as crucial actors in the localisation of global norms. This paper highlights the creative ways that non-state actors localise global norms in the informal sphere as well as identifies the major challenges that hinder further entrenchment of refugees? and asylum seekers? rights in Malaysia. This paper also presents a vantage point within global norm scholarship and forced migration studies to examine the role and agency of domestic actors and their contribution to global norm diffusion.