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Refugee as Sovereign Value: Staunching the Flow in a Time of Drought by Myanna Desaulniers B.A., University of Victoria, 2008 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the School of Communication Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology Myanna Desaulniers 2012 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2012 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for “Fair Dealing.” Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately. Approval Name: Myanna Desaulniers Degree: Master of Arts (Communication) Title of Thesis: Refugee as Sovereign Value: Staunching the Flow in a Time of Drought Examining Committee: Chair: J. Adam Holbrook, Adjunct Professor Richard Gruneau Senior Supervisor Professor Kathleen Cross Supervisor Senior Lecturer Katherine Reilly External Examiner Assistant Professor, School of Communication Simon Fraser University Date Defended/Approved: August 23, 2012 ii Partial Copyright Licence iii Abstract Since the early 20th century refugees have possessed strategic value by virtue of their country of origin and the inherently political nature of the acceptance of refugees. Historically, as the definition of “desirable” and “undesirable” citizens changes, so too does Canadian immigration policy. Investigating the sociopolitical climate in which refugees are situated today, this paper outlines theories concerning the nation-state, human rights, and power. These conceptual issues are then applied to a case study of media discourse surrounding the MV Sun Sea, a ship transporting over 400 Tamil asylum seekers to Canada in August of 2010. The analysis of three Canadian newspapers concluded that the event was captured as a “smuggling event” with dominant frames of asylum seekers as illegal, a danger, and a threat to law and order. Congruently, the MV Sun Sea fuelled a moral panic surrounding Canadian European identity and sovereignty. I also argue that this event was an impetus to the Conservative government legislating the mandatory detention of refugees that arrive via ship to Canada. Keywords: asylum seeker; MV Sun Sea; discourse analysis; refugee policy; Canadian immigration policy; human smuggling iv Dedication This paper is dedicated to those refugees who find their struggle situated in politics rather than human integrity. v Acknowledgements I would like to thank my senior supervisor, Rick Gruneau, for his intellectual and practical advice that prevented me from making a mountain out of a mole hill. Also, I thank Kathleen Cross for her careful and well considered thoughts on my earlier work. Thanks to my parents and Grandma for always being my light and inspiration. I am also grateful to my close friends, Nicole, Justin, Kendra, Ayumi, and Graeme for their encouragement and interest in my research. Lastly, an entertaining, educating, and distracting graduate cohort should not be forgotten. vi Table of Contents Approval .......................................................................................................................... ii Partial Copyright Licence ............................................................................................... iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iv Dedication ....................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ vi Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... vii List of Tables .................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures................................................................................................................. ix List of Acronyms .............................................................................................................. x 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 2. Human Rights, State, and Power ......................................................................... 9 2.1. The Nation-state and Human Rights ..................................................................... 10 2.2. The Production of Illegality ................................................................................... 15 2.3. Understanding Power ........................................................................................... 17 2.4. Discourse as Power .............................................................................................. 19 2.5. Relationship Between Media Accounts and Public Discourse ............................... 21 Framing ................................................................................................................ 23 Agenda Setting Theory ......................................................................................... 24 2.6. Categorization and Power .................................................................................... 25 2.7. Discussion ............................................................................................................ 27 3. Refugee Policy and the Framing of Refugee Discourse .................................. 29 3.1. History of Canadian Refugee Policy and Exclusion .............................................. 30 3.2. Migrant Categorization ......................................................................................... 41 The Discursive Disappearance of the “Refugee” .................................................. 45 3.3. Refugees, Moral Panic, and Crisis ........................................................................ 47 3.4. Framing of Refugee Discourse ............................................................................. 50 Refugee as Threat ................................................................................................ 51 Refugee as Criminal ............................................................................................. 54 Refugee as having Rights..................................................................................... 55 4. MV Sun Sea: A Discourse Analysis ................................................................... 58 4.1. Discourse Analysis: Rationale .............................................................................. 58 4.2. Discursive Event: MV Sun Sea ............................................................................. 60 4.3. News Media and Coding ...................................................................................... 61 Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 62 Collection Method ................................................................................................. 64 Preliminary Analysis and Coding .......................................................................... 65 vii 4.4. Findings ................................................................................................................ 68 Setting the Discursive Stage ................................................................................. 69 Voice ................................................................................................................. 72 Dominant Frames ................................................................................................. 78 Asylum Seeker as Illegal ........................................................................... 78 Danger ................................................................................................... 82 Law and Order .......................................................................................... 85 Absences and Silences ........................................................................................ 87 Alternative Media .................................................................................................. 91 5. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 96 References ................................................................................................................. 103 Appendices ................................................................................................................ 118 Appendix A. Methodological Steps ............................................................................ 119 Appendix B. Attributes and Attribute Values for Coding ............................................. 120 Appendix C. Example of Coded Article ...................................................................... 124 viii List of Tables Table 1: Date Range and Frequency of News Articles .................................................. 65 Table 2: Source Quotes and Frequency of Reference ................................................... 73 List of Figures Figure 1: Counts of Individual References to Asylum Seekers ...................................... 81 ix List of Acronyms BCGEU B.C Government and Service