Protection Of Refugees And Displaced Persons In The Asia Pacific Region

The chapters in this book explore the impact of recent shifts in global and regional power and the subsequent development and enforcement of international refugee protection standards in the Asia Pacific region. Drawing on their expertise across a number of jurisdictions, the contributors assess the challenges confronting the implementation of international law in the region, as well as new opportunities for extending protection norms into national and regional dialogues. The case studies span key jurisdictions across the region and include a comparative analysis with China, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Australia. This topical and important book raises critical questions for the Asia Pacific region and sheds light on the challenges confronting the protection of refugees and displaced persons in this area. Interdisciplinary in its approach, it will be of interest to academics, researchers, students and policy-makers concerned with the rights and protection of refugees.

This volume presents a comprehensive survey of the dynamics of conflict and climate induced forced displacement and organisational response across Asia and the Pacific. The Asia Pacific region hosts some of the largest numbers of displaced people on the planet, with some of the fewest protections available and sparse frameworks for advancing rights, livelihood, and policy. The region maintains the lowest number of signatory states to international refugee protection covenants, and the majority of national protection and support systems are ad hoc, precarious, and unpredictable. Civil society has very often filled in the gaps but, with the rise of nationalist rhetoric, civil society space has been shrinking. Drawing upon the expertise of academics, practitioners, historians, theorists, policy makers, political scientists, economists, and the voices of affected communities across the region, this book examines both key case studies and larger regional trends. This book is a valuable resource for scholars and practitioners looking to understand the complexities of responses to refugees and forced migrants in the Asia Pacific Region.

This collection focuses on regional approaches to refugee protection, and specifically upon the norms, and the norm entrepreneurs of those approaches. It considers how recent crises in refugee protection (such as the Syrian and Andaman Sea crises) have highlighted the strengths and limits of regional approaches to refugee protection and the importance of looking closely at the underlying norms, and the identities and activities of the relevant ‘norm entrepreneurs’ at the regional level. It compares the norms of refugee protection that have evolved in three regions: the EU, Latin America and the South East Asian region, to identify which norms of refugee protection have been ‘internalised’ in the three regional contexts and to contextualise the processes. The authors demonstrate the need for awareness of the roles of different norm ‘entrepreneurs’ such as states, international organisations and civil society, in developing and promoting basic norms on refugee protection. This book was originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of Human Rights.

This book offers a comprehensive and detailed analysis of refugee protection in Southeast Asia from an international law perspective. It examines both the legal and policy frameworks pertaining to the protection of refugees in the region as well as the countries’ response to refugee movements from the Indochinese refugee crisis in the mid-1970s to the most recent developments. It covers important aspects of refugee protection, such as access to territory, non-refoulement, the treatment of refugees, the concept of refugee as applied in the region, burden-sharing and durable solutions to the plight of refugees. The analysis focuses specifically on the main countries of asylum within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that are not parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention, namely Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Using an international law perspective based on the doctrine of the ‘two elements’ (practice and opinio juris), the author argues that these states have long recognized that people fleeing persecution, armed conflict and generalized violence, namely refugees, should be protected. This in turn demonstrates that they recognize the existence and relevance of the international refugee regime despite their refusal to accede to the Refugee Convention. Offering a different perspective on the links between international refugee law and refugee protection in Southeast Asia, this book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the fields of international relations, international refugee law, international human rights law, migration governance and Southeast Asian Studies.

This book presents a comprehensive assessment of regional responses to the crisis in the asylum/refugee system and critically examines how different regions tackle the problem. The chapters consider the fundamental challenges which undermine an effective asylum process as well as regional difficulties with the various circumstances surrounding asylum seekers. With contributions on Africa, Europe, Latin America, South Asia and the Middle East, and the Pacific, the collection strives to appreciate what informs each region’s approach to the asylum process and asks if there are issues common to every region and if regions can learn from one another. The book seeks an understanding of the existing legal regime for the protection of asylum seekers and how regional institutions such as human rights commissions and regional courts enforce and adjudicate the law. The volume will be valuable to those interested in international law, migration and human rights.

In a protracted displacement situation, refugees are sequestered in camps without right of mobility or employment; their lives remain on hold and stagnate in a state of limbo for a long period. This book reviews the situation and results of research and policies that have left refugees as a forgotten group in protracted situations. The work features case studies by experts who conducted field work examining long-term protracted refugee situations in Nepal, Thailand and Bangladesh, the protracted internally displaced (IDP) situation in Sri Lanka, and the refugee and IDP situation in Afghanistan. Also discussed is an emerging protracted refugee and IDP problem in Iraq. The volume concludes with an analysis of the lessons learned and the applications for policy, and incorporates a valuable bibliography detailing research in this hugely important area. This is a critical resource for academics and policy makers concerned with migration and governance issues.

People in danger have received protection in communities beyond their own from the earliest times of recorded history. The causes — war, conflict, violence, persecution, natural disasters, and climate change — are as familiar to readers of the news as to students of the past. It is 70 years since nations in the wake of World War II drew up the landmark 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. People Forced to Flee marks this milestone. It is the latest in a long line of publications, stretching back to 1993, that were previously entitled The State of the World's Refugees. The book traces the historic path that led to the 1951 Convention, showing how history was made, by taking the centuries-old ideals of safety and solutions for refugees, to global practice. It maps its progress during which international protection has reached a much broader group of people than initially envisaged. It examines international responses to forced displacement within borders as well as beyond them, and the protection principles that apply to both. It reviews where they have been used with consistency and success, and where they have not. At times, the strength and resolve of the international community seems strong, yet solutions and meaningful solidarity are often elusive. Taking stock today - at this important anniversary – is all the more crucial as the world faces increasing forced displacement. Most is experienced in low- and middle-income countries and persists for generations. People forced to flee face barriers to improving their lives, contributing to the communities in which they live and realizing solutions. Everywhere, an effective response depends on the commitment to international cooperation set down in the 1951 Convention: a vision often compromised by efforts to minimize responsibilities. There is growing recognition that doing better is a global imperative. Humanitarian and development action has the potential to be transformational, especially when grounded in the local context. People Forced to Flee examines how and where increased development investments in education, health and economic inclusion are helping to improve socioeconomic opportunities both for forcibly displaced persons and their hosts. In 2018, the international community reached a Global Compact on Refugees for more equitable and sustainable responses. It is receiving deeper support. People Forced to Flee looks at whether that is enough for what could – and should – help define the next 70 years.

In the South Asian Region including Afghanistan and Myanmar internal displacement and cross-border migration have become everyday realities. Not only do they involve human rights abuses, maltreatment and denial of livelihood for those displaced, but demand accommodation with state sovereignty and raise questions of identity, power and gender-related concerns.Forced Migration in the South Asian Region: Displacement, Human Rights and Conflict Resolution is a collection of essays that explores the nature, extent and ramifications of forced migration and displacement. This volume is the outcome of an international conference organized by the Centre for Refugee Studies, Jadavpur University, Calcutta in collaboration with the Refugee Studies Center, University of Oxford; the Law Research Institute, Calcutta; the International Law Association, Calcutta Chapter; and the Brookings Institution-Johns Hopkins SAIS Project on Internal Displacement.