Transnational repression
Also called: Diaspora surveillance · Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Transnational repression is when a state reaches across its borders to watch, frighten or silence its own nationals who live abroad. These people are usually critics, dissidents (people who openly oppose their government) or members of its diaspora (a community living outside its home country). The methods include surveillance (secretly watching people), threats, pressure on family back home, and coercion (forcing someone to act through fear). It is not set out in any Indian article or Act. It matters because it harms people's freedom of speech and association on foreign soil. It also challenges the host country's duty to protect everyone living under its laws, so it is now treated as an internal-security issue and not just a diplomatic irritant.
Example
In 1976 the Shah of Iran admitted that agents of SAVAK tracked Iranians living in the United States. SAVAK was Iran's secret police, and at home it was known for arresting, torturing and executing dissidents. This is an early case of a state carrying its internal security abroad. India faces the same issue in two roles: it hosts diasporas, and it has a large diaspora of its own abroad.
Don't confuse with
- Espionage: espionage targets the host country's secrets or policy, for example South Korea's KCIA spying in the U.S. and bribing Congressmen. Transnational repression targets the state's own people living abroad.
- Lobbying: lobbying tries to persuade another country's lawmakers. Transnational repression tries to silence a state's own critics overseas.