Borderland areas separating the state of Sarawak (Malaysia) and West Kalimantan (Indonesia) have long been a security concern for the Sarawak State Government. In general, such areas emerge as cross-border crime scenes, where many cases are constantly reported to the relevant security authorities. Despite the perseverance of Malaysia in enhancing border security, particularly that of the Sarawak state government, a discourse centred on state-centric security on people’s security issues in the affected area remains lacking. Border communities are rarely asked about matters of personal safety which can shed some light on the depiction of borderlands as insecure regions threatening human security. Although calls to secure national borders are evident, the perspectives of border communities are often discounted. This paper aims to highlight the importance of an empirical study in understanding human security from a spatial context of a borderland. By analysing the perceptions of people residing close to the border, this study contextualises human (in)security focusing on border community narratives and experiences and reflects on how borders impact people’s daily life. The analysis thematically underlined the value of including people’s collective experiences gathered through focus group discussions (FGDs) among the border communities of Danau Melikin, Serian, Sarawak. The findings offered insights into the population’s mental state and contributed to the current understanding of human (in)security from a bottom-up perspective. Accordingly, the study reported that people’s perception of threats and fear resulted from cross-border threats, where the profound effects related to human security threats were mostly influenced by border vulnerabilities. In this vein, the border as a ‘space’ was essential in influencing insecurity among the border communities of Danau Melikin, Serian.

分隔砂拉越州（马来西亚）和西加里曼丹州（印度尼西亚）的边境地区长期以来一直是砂拉越州政府的安全隐患。通常，这些地区是跨境犯罪现场，许多案件不断向有关安全当局报告。尽管马来西亚坚持不懈地加强边境安全，特别是砂拉越州政府，但仍然缺乏以受灾地区人民安全问题为中心的以国家为中心的安全的论述。很少有人向边境社区询问有关人身安全的问题，这可以使人们对边境地区的描述不安全，因为这些地区不安全，威胁着人类的安全。尽管要求建立国界的呼声是显而易见的，但边境社区的观点常常被轻视。本文旨在强调实证研究在从边境地区的空间背景理解人类安全方面的重要性。通过分析人们对居住在边界附近的人们的看法，本研究以边界社区的叙事和经历为背景，将人的（不安全的）背景环境化，并反思边界如何影响人们的日常生活。该分析从主题上强调了包括通过在Danau Melikin，Serian，砂拉越的边境社区之间进行的焦点小组讨论（FGD）收集的人们的集体经验的价值。这些发现为人们的心理状况提供了见解，并从下至上的角度促进了当前对人（不安全）感的理解。因此，该研究报告称，人们对威胁和恐惧的感知是跨界威胁造成的，与人类安全威胁相关的深远影响主要受边界漏洞的影响。从这个角度来看，边界是“空间”，对于影响塞里安Danau Melikin边界社区之间的不安全状况至关重要。