Expert Commentary by Dr Nyi Nyi Kyaw and Caitlin McCaffrie Myanmar has long been the primary source of displacement in Southeast Asia, resulting in refugees and people seeking asylum from Myanmar living across Southeast and South Asia, often in precarious circumstances. This paper aims to unpack the current situation facing those displaced from Myanmar and…
Expert Commentary by Dr Asher Hirsch Southeast Asia is a region that hosts a significant number of refugees, yet struggles with providing adequate protection and rights due to various challenges, including a lack of legal frameworks, funding, and regional cooperation. This Expert Commentary focuses on the role donor states, especially those in the Global North,…
In the past two years, there has been a precipitous rise in the number of Rohingya refugees making the decision to undertake dangerous land and sea journeys in search of safety and protection. Recent arrivals to Aceh throughout November, who are in urgent need of shelter, nutrition and medical assistance, were initially pushed back to…
TODAY is World Refugee Day. This year’s theme, “Hope Away From Home”, resonates deeply with the millions of refugees and displaced persons worldwide, including those in Malaysia, whose hopes and ambitions are often amplified through initiatives and support from within their own communities, including refugee-led organisations (RLOs). The Asia Displacement Solutions Platform’s (ADSP) SHARP-Asia project…
With long-term solutions likely to remain elusive, it’s time to make serious efforts toward improving Rohingya lives in the short term. For around 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in Bangladesh, sustainable solutions such as safe and voluntary return to their homeland, large-scale resettlement in third countries, or local integration in Bangladesh will remain…
Afghanistan is burdened by multiple crises, and there is an urgent need for innovative collective global action. The upcoming Global Refugee Forum in December 2023 is a key opportunity to break the current deadlock. Najeeba Wazefadost and Evan Jones write that a strategic group of 15 donors – the so-called Support Platform for the Solutions…
The Bali Process still holds promise for principled regional responses to the movement of refugees and migrants. Last year marked 20 years since the creation of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crime. Commendable for its longevity, serious-minded policy dialogue, and capacity building, the Bali Process’ potential as a…
For more than four decades of political instabilities, Myanmar has been a hotbed of internal and regional displacement, with millions of civilians forced to flee their homes. The situation became worse recently. Since the military coup in February 2021, ongoing armed conflict and political instability have sent thousands of displaced civilians to cross borders to…
Despite the sizeable numbers of refugees from Myanmar within Asia, the overall protection environment remains flimsy. For decades, countries in South and Southeast Asia have been hosting refugee populations originating from within and outside the region. Most of these refugees are from Myanmar and include persons from a number of the country’s ethnic groups such…
This article was originally published in The Diplomat and can be viewed in its original form here. On the world stage, Afghanistan risks becoming a forgotten crisis, despite rising humanitarian needs. But its closest neighbors don’t have the luxury of looking the other way. The economic, humanitarian, and social decline in Afghanistan since the fall…