Abstract This study examines Indonesia’s efforts to protect the educational rights of children of nonprocedural Indonesian migrant workers in East Malaysia, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak states. Although existing studies emphasise non-state actors and alternative education initiatives, limited attention has been paid to how Indonesia’s diplomatic strategies operate within a broader diaspora governance framework. This study addresses this gap by analysing the role of soft power diplomacy in expanding access to education for undocumented migrant children. Using a qualitative descriptive approach based on semistructured interviews, document analysis and internet-based sources, the findings show that Indonesia has implemented key initiatives, including the establishment of Sekolah Indonesia Kota Kinabalu, community learning centres, nonformal education programmes and repatriation scholarships. However, these efforts face structural and administrative constraints. This study advances inclusive Indonesian foreign policy and strengthens cross-border cooperation to protect the educational rights of undocumented migrant children.
Abstract This paper examines the ethical complexities surrounding the representation and memorialisation of Girmitiyas, Indian indentured labour employed in a system that operated in Fiji from 1879 to 1916. It examines how the history of these labourers continues to generate ethical dilemmas for contemporary Fijian society, in relation to historical justice, collective memory and intercommunal reconciliation. The paper is a conceptual and interpretive contribution: rather than reporting new empirical or archival findings, it develops a systematic ethical framework through a critical synthesis of the historiography of indenture, memory and trauma theory and transitional justice scholarship. Its central claim is that the Girmitiya experience cannot be adequately addressed by importing frameworks developed for other traumatic pasts. The paper concludes that ethical engagement with the Girmitiya past requires an approach that acknowledges suffering while enabling intergenerational healing and social cohesion in Fiji’s multicultural context, and it derives six principles to guide representation, commemoration and policy.
Abstract This narrative study examines how Georgian migrants in Germany negotiate values, identity, integration and belonging across generations and gender. Drawing on 50 semistructured narrative interviews conducted in 2021 and 2023, the study identifies five interconnected dimensions of migration: value negotiation; personal agency; emotional integration; hybrid identity; and homeland as a symbolic space of belonging. The findings suggest that migration is experienced not as a linear process of adaptation but as an ongoing negotiation between continuity and change. Participants combined family responsibility and cultural continuity with increasing autonomy, independence and self-reliance. Integration extended beyond structural adaptation to include emotional security, social recognition and meaningful social relationships. Homeland remained an enduring symbolic resource maintained through language, family practices and cultural traditions rather than through concrete plans for return. By providing evidence from an understudied post-Soviet context, the study advances migration research by conceptualising migration as a continuous psychological, cultural and relational process.
Abstract One of Australia’s most active and growing immigrant populations, the Indian diaspora is a prime example of the dichotomy of socioeconomic vibrancy and integration difficulties in multicultural host communities. The main research question addressed in this article is: How do the historical development, demographic trends, economic and social accomplishments, and cultural contributions of the Indian diaspora in Australia position the community as a bridge for Australia–India relationships while resolving integration challenges, such as discrimination, individual compromise and policy constraints? The specific issue is defined as the unexplored paradox of diasporic responsibility. Migration studies consist mainly of either optimistic accounts or deficit-fuelled critiques. By combining historical-structural viewpoints with current policy analyses, and drawing on academic assessments, government records and community narratives, this study reveals diasporas to be active participants in globalised multiculturalism rather than merely recipients of host policies, and highlights their transformative potential. It provides a useful framework for policy and lawmakers.
