Emotional Remittances in the Transnational Lives of Rohingya Families Living in Malaysia

Abstract

The experiences of Rohingya living in Malaysia reveal the symbolic and affective significance of remittance practices for maintaining family ties across borders. Among these families, some of whom have resided in Malaysia for up to three generations, remittance practices involve both sending and receiving. As senders, families provide financial resources to relatives at risk of persecution in the home country. As receivers, families benefit from assistance sent by relatives, who have been formally resettled in Western countries. In this article, based on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork carried out in an urban Rohingya community in Kuala Lumpur, I illustrate how transnational remittance practices act as an important strategy for maintaining collective wellbeing, both emotionally and financially. However, although remittance practices are imbued with feelings of love and gratitude, they are also infused with feelings of resentment, obligation and guilt. Thus, while remittance practices are important for maintaining family ties and providing a buffer to the precariousness of life locally and transnationally, they also put additional financial and emotional pressure on family members, who remain stuck in protracted transit countries like Malaysia.

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