Protracted Displacement In Asia

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.

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.

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.

This book responds to the need to explore the multitude of interconnected factors causing displacements that compel people to move within their homelands or traverse various borders in the contemporary world that is characterised by extensive and rapid movements of people. It addresses this need by bringing together historical and contemporary accounts and critical examinations of the displaced, by articulating the commonalities in their lived experiences. It accomplishes the task of charting a new path in displacement studies by offering a number of studies from interdisciplinary and diverse methodological approaches comprising ethnographic and qualitative research and literary interpretations to emphasise that although the forms and conditions of mobility are highly divergent, individual experiences of displacement and placelessness offer a critical challenge to the artificial categorisations of people's movements. Each chapter adds insights into the different configurations of displacement and placement, and offers fresh interpretations of migration and dislocation in today's rapidly changing world. The contributors critically examine a variety of displacement processes and experiences in the context of war, tourism, neoliberal policies of development, and the impact of various agro-forestry policies. They focus on a range of countries, enabling a thorough comparative analysis in terms of scope and range of examples and methods of analysis. This book makes an original contribution to the growing body of literature on displacement, and will appeal to a wide readership including advanced undergraduates, and graduate students and professors in disciplines such as human geography, development studies, sociology and anthropology, regional studies and comparative impact assessment.

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 book provides essential background information on the protracted displacement of several ethnic groups along the Thai-Myanmar border before turning to an examination of whether Myanmar has now shifted into a post-conflict society, the expected challenges involved in reintegrating returnees to Myanmar, and the possibility of voluntary and sustainable repatriation. The authors conclude that, given the current, ongoing security challenges and the lack of job opportunities in Myanmar, voluntary repatriation is not yet feasible as a long-term solution. After more than 60 years of conflict and displacement, Myanmar is now in the midst of political reform. A new nominally civilian government and the promise of elections in 2015 have raised hopes of a lasting democratic transition after years of military rule. For the first time in decades, repatriation of refugees in Thailand is being discussed as a real and imminent possibility.

The Syrian refugee crisis has galvanized attention to one of the world’s foremost challenges: forced displacement. The total number of refugees and internally displaced persons, now at over 65 million, continues to grow as violent conflict spikes.This report, Forcibly Displaced: Toward a Development Approach Supporting Refugees, the Internally Displaced, and Their Hosts, produced in close partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), attempts to sort fact from fiction to better understand the scope of the challenge and encourage new thinking from a socioeconomic perspective. The report depicts the reality of forced displacement as a developing world crisis with implications for sustainable growth: 95 percent of the displaced live in developing countries and over half are in displacement for more than four years. To help the displaced, the report suggests ways to rebuild their lives with dignity through development support, focusing on their vulnerabilities such as loss of assets and lack of legal rights and opportunities. It also examines how to help host communities that need to manage the sudden arrival of large numbers of displaced people and that are under pressure to expand services, create jobs, and address long-standing development issues. Critical to this response is collective action. As work on a new Global Compact on Responsibility Sharing for Refugees progresses, the report underscores the importance of humanitarian and development communities working together in complementary ways to support countries throughout the crisis†•from strengthening resilience and preparedness at the onset to creating lasting solutions.

Protracted conflicts, unequal burden sharing, climate change, globalization, and shifting policies regarding immigration, asylum, work and development are changing the nature of forced displacements and blurring the line between forced migration and economic migration. This book looks at migration dynamics of South and Southeast Asia examining these shifts to contribute to a more interdisciplinary and comprehensive picture of migration for both research and policy-making. We highlight research about migration patterns of groups that are often invisible in the study of migration-women, IPDs, environmental refugees and migrants, South-South migrants, and those that stay behind. .