The number of refugees in the Asia Pacific is consistently high, with nearly 4.2 million cited in UNHCR’s most recent Global Trends.[1] Statistics show only part of the picture, however, because of large numbers of unregistered populations and because of…
Turkey has ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol but with the optional geographical limitation offered in 1951. This means that Turkey applies the Refugee Convention only to refugees originating from Europe or, to put it more accurately,…
In the 20th century, Hong Kong has been a safe harbour for refugees and migrants from mainland China and Vietnam. Although China acceded to both the Convention and its Protocol in 1982, the Refugee Convention has never been extended to…
Jordan and Lebanon share common challenges in relation to refugee protection but are poles apart in practice. Neither has signed the 1951 Refugee Convention. Both host a disproportionate number of refugees. Both share the collective trauma of large-scale protracted refugee…
As UNHCR has sought to plug an increasingly large gap between operating costs and donations, the agency has targeted new ‘growth markets’ for philanthropic and State-based funding, many of which are in wealthy non-signatory States. This has implications for how…
When it comes to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its application in Bangladesh in the context of the Rohingya refugee situation, most accounts will state something along the following lines: “Bangladesh has not ratified the Refugee Convention of 1951 or…
Despite hosting refugees for decades, Thailand has never clearly granted refugees a legal right to reside in the country. Refugees arriving in Thailand in large numbers from neighbouring countries – such as Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees in the 1970s, or…
After fleeing genocide in Myanmar in 2013, I became trapped in Indonesia. I had hoped to seek refuge in Australia but was confined to a hotel room for three months and then transferred to a detention centre where I was…
Refugees: A Very Short Introduction by Gil Loescher This is a special book. Gil Loescher died on 28 April 2020. He was in the final stages of preparing the manuscript for this book, which he considered to be one of…
The second feature in this issue focuses on non-signatory States and the international refugee regime, with authors examining the implications for protection when States are not signatories to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (and/or its 1967…