ABSTRACT
Representations of forced migrants in news media introduce varied notions of refugee identity to large audiences in India. In most cases, these representations, across various mediums, have strong bearings on the ways in which refugees are perceived and on the ideas of response. The discourse over the Rohingya refugees in India, is a peculiar example in this regard, and the chapter observes that two types of media frames emerge prominently; these are the threat frame and the victimhood frame. In the threat frames, media may strongly introduce notions of threat, criminality, and illegality to the portrayal of Rohingyas. Victimhood frames present ideas of refugee suffering, victimhood, and concern. What is the politics of representation which manifests across these frames? How are identities and borders positioned? Taking up a study of select print and online news media texts in India, the chapter presents a description of the two emergent frames, and the different understandings these bring about. It is observed that at various moments, threat frames become dominant, and a language of securitization and crisis emerges as normal, largely driven by political actors. The Rohingya identity gets strongly framed as that of the other, with almost no agency to present their concerns. The victimhood frame presents empathetic representations and brings forth the everyday suffering of the Rohingya. However, it also often follows crisis positionings, and may show refugees with limited agency for contact with the host society.
