Southeast Asia's Drug Wars
Southeast Asia's performative drug policies marginalise migrants and minorities, leaving criminal networks untouched.
In 2010, Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, a human trafficking victim, was sentenced to death in Indonesia on drug trafficking charges. Denied adequate legal representation, she spent nearly 15 years on death row before her eventual release.
The case highlights the precarious position of economic migrants and minorities in Southeast Asia's war on drugs.
Mary Jane's story reflects a regional pattern of performative border control, where drug wars are mobilised as populist tropes. Governments across Southeast Asia have leveraged public outrage over drug use and foreign drug smugglers to define drugs as national security threats.
This justifies the politicisation of borders, minority targeting and harsh sentencing, linking back to the Philippines' 1970s martial law.
Author's summary: Southeast Asia's drug policies target migrants.
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