Refugees Who Arrive by Boat and Canada’s Commitment to the Refugee Convention: A Discursive Analysis
This paper offers a comparative analysis of official discourse surrounding three incidents of asylum seekers arriving in Canada by boat: the Komagata Maru in 1914; the Sri Lankans who arrived in Newfoundland on lifeboats in 1986; and the Ocean Lady in 2009. The objective is to assess Canada’s commit...
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ftjrefuge:oai:refuge.journals.yorku.ca:article/32088 2023-05-15T17:22:58+02:00 Refugees Who Arrive by Boat and Canada’s Commitment to the Refugee Convention: A Discursive Analysis Mann, Alexandra 2011-04-21 application/pdf https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/32088 https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.32088 eng eng York University Libraries https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/32088/29334 https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/32088 doi:10.25071/1920-7336.32088 Copyright (c) 2011 Alexandra Mann https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees; Vol. 26 No. 2 (2011): No Borders As Practical Politics; 191-206 Refuge : revue canadienne sur les réfugiés Vol. 26 No. 2 (2011): No Borders : une politique pratique; 191-206 1920-7336 0229-5113 Canada discursive analysis irregular migration asylum seekers refugee policy discourse info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 2011 ftjrefuge https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.32088 2023-03-12T00:14:31Z This paper offers a comparative analysis of official discourse surrounding three incidents of asylum seekers arriving in Canada by boat: the Komagata Maru in 1914; the Sri Lankans who arrived in Newfoundland on lifeboats in 1986; and the Ocean Lady in 2009. The objective is to assess Canada’s commitment to protecting refugees at these three points in history and evaluate academic contentions that the concept of the refugee is being eroded. The selected incidents trace the emergence and decline of the notion of the refugee in Canadian official discourse. Even during the peak of Canada’s commitment to refugees in the 1980s, the discourse reveals blurriness between the ideas of the “refugee” and the “illegal migrant.” However, the characterization of asylum seekers as “illegals” is more intense now than in the earlier periods. This shift in the discourse warrants attention as we face the prospect of what Audrey Macklin describes as the “discursive disappearance of the refugee.” Le présent article propose une analyse comparative du discours officiel entourant trois cas de demandeurs d’asile arrivant par bateau au Canada: l’incident du Komagata Maru en 1914, les Sri-Lankais qui sont arrivés à Terre-Neuve sur des embarcations de sauvetage en 1986 et l’incident du Ocean Lady en 2009. L’objectif est d’évaluer l’engagement du Canada à protéger les réfugiés à ces trois moments de l’histoire et d’évaluer les arguments théoriques voulant une érosion de la notion de réfugié. Les incidents choisis suivent l’ émergence et le déclin de la notion de réfugié dans le discours officiel canadien. Même au plus fort de l’engagement du Canada envers les réfugiés dans les années 1980, le discours se révèle flou sur les notions de « réfugié » et de « migrant clandestin » . Cependant, la caractérisation des demandeurs d’asile comme « clandestins » est plus intense aujourd’hui que par les périodes antérieures. Ce changement dans le discours justifie qu’on y porte attention alors que nous faisons face à la perspective de ce que Audrey ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Terre-Neuve Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees Audrey ENVELOPE(-67.100,-67.100,-68.133,-68.133) Canada Macklin ENVELOPE(64.600,64.600,-69.950,-69.950) Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees 26 2 165 182 |
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Open Polar |
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Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees |
op_collection_id |
ftjrefuge |
language |
English |
topic |
Canada discursive analysis irregular migration asylum seekers refugee policy discourse |
spellingShingle |
Canada discursive analysis irregular migration asylum seekers refugee policy discourse Mann, Alexandra Refugees Who Arrive by Boat and Canada’s Commitment to the Refugee Convention: A Discursive Analysis |
topic_facet |
Canada discursive analysis irregular migration asylum seekers refugee policy discourse |
description |
This paper offers a comparative analysis of official discourse surrounding three incidents of asylum seekers arriving in Canada by boat: the Komagata Maru in 1914; the Sri Lankans who arrived in Newfoundland on lifeboats in 1986; and the Ocean Lady in 2009. The objective is to assess Canada’s commitment to protecting refugees at these three points in history and evaluate academic contentions that the concept of the refugee is being eroded. The selected incidents trace the emergence and decline of the notion of the refugee in Canadian official discourse. Even during the peak of Canada’s commitment to refugees in the 1980s, the discourse reveals blurriness between the ideas of the “refugee” and the “illegal migrant.” However, the characterization of asylum seekers as “illegals” is more intense now than in the earlier periods. This shift in the discourse warrants attention as we face the prospect of what Audrey Macklin describes as the “discursive disappearance of the refugee.” Le présent article propose une analyse comparative du discours officiel entourant trois cas de demandeurs d’asile arrivant par bateau au Canada: l’incident du Komagata Maru en 1914, les Sri-Lankais qui sont arrivés à Terre-Neuve sur des embarcations de sauvetage en 1986 et l’incident du Ocean Lady en 2009. L’objectif est d’évaluer l’engagement du Canada à protéger les réfugiés à ces trois moments de l’histoire et d’évaluer les arguments théoriques voulant une érosion de la notion de réfugié. Les incidents choisis suivent l’ émergence et le déclin de la notion de réfugié dans le discours officiel canadien. Même au plus fort de l’engagement du Canada envers les réfugiés dans les années 1980, le discours se révèle flou sur les notions de « réfugié » et de « migrant clandestin » . Cependant, la caractérisation des demandeurs d’asile comme « clandestins » est plus intense aujourd’hui que par les périodes antérieures. Ce changement dans le discours justifie qu’on y porte attention alors que nous faisons face à la perspective de ce que Audrey ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mann, Alexandra |
author_facet |
Mann, Alexandra |
author_sort |
Mann, Alexandra |
title |
Refugees Who Arrive by Boat and Canada’s Commitment to the Refugee Convention: A Discursive Analysis |
title_short |
Refugees Who Arrive by Boat and Canada’s Commitment to the Refugee Convention: A Discursive Analysis |
title_full |
Refugees Who Arrive by Boat and Canada’s Commitment to the Refugee Convention: A Discursive Analysis |
title_fullStr |
Refugees Who Arrive by Boat and Canada’s Commitment to the Refugee Convention: A Discursive Analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Refugees Who Arrive by Boat and Canada’s Commitment to the Refugee Convention: A Discursive Analysis |
title_sort |
refugees who arrive by boat and canada’s commitment to the refugee convention: a discursive analysis |
publisher |
York University Libraries |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/32088 https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.32088 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.100,-67.100,-68.133,-68.133) ENVELOPE(64.600,64.600,-69.950,-69.950) |
geographic |
Audrey Canada Macklin |
geographic_facet |
Audrey Canada Macklin |
genre |
Newfoundland Terre-Neuve |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland Terre-Neuve |
op_source |
Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees; Vol. 26 No. 2 (2011): No Borders As Practical Politics; 191-206 Refuge : revue canadienne sur les réfugiés Vol. 26 No. 2 (2011): No Borders : une politique pratique; 191-206 1920-7336 0229-5113 |
op_relation |
https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/32088/29334 https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/32088 doi:10.25071/1920-7336.32088 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2011 Alexandra Mann https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.32088 |
container_title |
Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
165 |
op_container_end_page |
182 |
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1766109934141833216 |