Diasporas as a linchpin in local and international humanitarian action

A case study of the Chinese in Aceh following the 2004 tsunami

Bibliographic Data

ID4865815
AuthorsMiwa Hirono (0000-0002-2265-3542, College of Global Liberal Arts Ritsumeikan University Japan, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume48
IssueS1
Pagese12633-e12633
Publication date2024-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDisasters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0361-3666 • E-ISSN: 1467-7717
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/disa.12633
PMID38888033
OpenAlexW4399783158
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited7

Chinese humanitarian actors have worked frequently with the Chinese diaspora in disaster-affected areas, but little, if any, research has been conducted into the important role of the diaspora in disaster response and humanitarian assistance. This paper investigates what local knowledge the Chinese diaspora has offered to humanitarian actors from the People's Republic of China (PRC), and how this has contributed to their effectiveness. Based on a case study of the semi-autonomous Indonesian province of Aceh in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, this paper argues that the diaspora can serve as a linchpin in local and international humanitarian action. It can do so by strengthening networks and bringing together local ethnic communities, local governments, and the PRC's humanitarian actors, while also offering local knowledge in the form of contextual memory. Such local knowledge may have to be fully utilised to address any underlying ethnic tensions in disaster-affected areas

Action (physics · China · Diaspora · Economic growth · Ethnic chinese · Ethnic group · Humanitarian aid · Indonesian · Political science · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Asian Studies and History · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics

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Open DOIOpen Access