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Governing Technologies
  • ISSN: 2516-3523
  • E-ISSN: 2516-3531

Abstract

This article presents a case study of the Tracking Refugees Information System (TRIS) that has been introduced in Malaysia for undocumented migrants and refugees, including the large Rohingya population being hosted in the country. It argues that the TRIS digital identity management system for Rohingya and other refugees in Malaysia in this period potentially shifts these groups from the protection of UNHCR to a new national surveillance project and fundamentally changes their status. The article highlights possible risks and concerns attached to such a digital ID system, and provides a contextual history of the evolution of dispossession of the Rohingya of identity documents in their own homeland as well as issues that have emerged concerning digital identity issuance in other asylum states.

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/content/journals/10.1386/jdmp_00161_1
2024-10-31
2026-04-13

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/content/journals/10.1386/jdmp_00161_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): asylum; Malaysia; Myanmar; privacy; refugee; surveillance

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