The case of the plight of refugees and refugee-like situations in Asia and the Pacific

MHRD – Asia Pacific

Hosana ChayHamza Khan

Natalie LowreyCatherine Bolinga

•SoutheastAsiannation

•53million

•80%Buddhists

•SoutheastAsiannation

•53million

•80%Buddhists

•Over135ethnicgroups/indigenousgroups

•70%areBurmese

•Militarydictatorshipfrom1962to2010

•Thefirstcivilianpresidentwaselectedon15thofMarchin50years.

•Over20mainethnicArmedForces

•CivilWarssince1948

•MuslimMinorityinNorthernRakhineState

•Nearly2million(estimate)

•Mostlyinthecampsoroverseas

•SpeakChittagoniandialectofBengali

ForcedLabour

SexualViolence

ReligiousPersecution(Christiansaswellexperiencing)

ExtrajudicialKillingswithImpunity

DenialofCitizenshipsince1982

•134deathsandover7,000ofhousesdestroyed

•100,000relocatedtoghetto-likemakeshiftcamps

•134deathsandover7,000ofhousesdestroyed

•100,000relocatedtoghetto-likemakeshiftcamps

•ShortageofBasicneeds(food,shelter,health)

•ExodustoMalaysiaandThailand

•Genocideishappening

•RecognisedasRohingya

•NoresponsefromASEAN(AssociationofSouthEastAsianNations)

•MSFwaskickedoutonce

No Civil Society in Myanmar working on Rohingya

No Civil Society in Myanmar working on Rohingya

•Notincludedin135indigenousracesinMyanmar

•WhileRohingyaPeopleclaimasindigenoustoMyanmar(SeafarerfromArabNations),MyanmarpeopleconsiderthemasillegalBengaliimmigrantbroughtbytheBritish

•ThenameRohingyaneverappearedinanyofficialdocumentsduringhundred-yearofBritishRule

•ByacknowledgingthenameRohingyaimpliestheirindigenousstatus

Amending1982CitizenshipLawbyremovingdiscriminatoryclauseforNeuralandAssociateCitizens

ConferringcitizenshiptoallRohingyaPeople

Time

ContinuedPressureontheMyanmargovernment

FIRST FLEET

1788

FIRST BOAT PEOPLE

Aboriginalpeople,oldestlivingcultureonearth,livingonthecontinentofAustraliafor60,000+years

Enduredgenocide,includingmassacres,incarcerationandstealingofchildren.

‘FEAR OF THE ASIAN HORDES’

THE YELLOW PERIL

AUSTRALIA OPENS ITS DOORS POST WORLD WAR II

•AustraliabecomeastatepartytotheRefugeeConvention,on22January1954,andbecameapartytothe1967Protocolon13December1973

•SincetheSecondWorldWarAustraliahastakenupto700,000refugees,including171,000predominantlyEuropeanrefugees,whowereresettledinthepost-warperiodbetween1947and1954

•Australia,onapercapitabasis,takesthelargestproportionofrefugeesundertheUNHCR’sresettlementprogram

1970’s: DIVERSIFICATION OF REFUGEE INTAKEImmigration without racial discrimination

•AsiansexpelledbyUganda’sPresidentIdiAmin

•ChileansfleeingthemilitarycoupthatdeposedtheAllendeGovernment

•CypriotandEastTimoreserefugeesfleeinginvasionandwarintheircountries

•Resettlementofover100,000VietnameserefugeesfromvariousAsiancountriesovera20-yearperiod

REFUGEES TO AUSTRALIA MAKE A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY

REFUGEES TO AUSTRALIA MAKE A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY

REFUGEES TO AUSTRALIA MAKE A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY

FROM PROTECTION TO SECURITY‘good refugee’ vs ‘bad refugee’

•Asecondwaveof‘boatpeople’,mainlyfromCambodia,sawaturninAustralianimmigrationpoliciesin1992withtheinstitutionindefinite mandatory detention aspolicy

•Politicalrhetoriconrefugeesandasylumseekersdramaticallyshiftedfromprotectiontoasecurityparadigm

•Legislationdividedthe‘goodrefugee’–thosewhowaitinacampforresettlement–fromthe‘badrefugee’–thosewho‘jumpthequeue’andare‘illegal’comingbyboat

We will decide who comes to this country

and the circumstances in which they come

John Howard, 2001

A PIONEER OF DETENTIONIndefinite mandatory detention

•Australia,theUKandCanadaimposingmandatoryandindefinitedetentiononasylumseekersasthefirstcourseofaction

•DespiterepeatedcondemnationthispolicyhashadpoliticalsupportfrombothmajorAustralianpoliticalpartiesforover20years

•AllasylumseekerswhoarriveinAustraliabyboatwithoutavalidvisaaredetained,withnolimitimposedonhowlongtheycanbeheld

•1373inoffshoredetention,67arechildren

•29deathsinonshoreandoffshoredetentionfacilitiessince2010

•AUD$1billionayearondetainingasylumseekersinoffshoredetention,fivetimestheUNHCRbudgetforallofSouthEastAsia

•ThemajorityofthoseseekingasylumarefleeingwarandpersecutionfromAfghanistan,SriLanka,Iraq,IranandMyanmar

•TherearenocountriesenroutethathaveratifiedtheRefugeeConventionsotheycanclaimprotectionunless,anduntil,theyreachAustralia

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSEPolicies in breach of International law

•SpecialRapporteuronTorture,JuanE.Méndez,foundthatpartsofAustralia’simmigrationdetentionregimeviolatedtheConventionagainstTorture

•UNHCRhascriticisedAustralia’soffshoredetentionpolicyasinhumane

•UNHighCommissionerforHumanRights,ZeidRa’adAl-Hussein,statedthatAustralia’spoliciessetapoorbenchmarkforotherstatesintheAsiaPacificregion

REFUGEE & ASYLUM SEEKER RESPONSE“Stop torture, release us”

CIVIL SOCIETY RESPONSE#LetThemStay #BringThemHere

•2,362kilometresNorthofAustralia

•7.5millionpeople

•IndependencefromAustraliain1975

•SharesborderwiththeIndonesianProvinceofWestPapua

•Partytoboththe1951conventionandthe1967protocol

AccordingtoUNHCRPapuaNewGuinea(PNG),thereareMixedflowsofurbanasylum-seekersandmigrantsfromSouth-WestAsia,

theMiddleEastandAfrica

WestPapuanRefugees/asylumseekers

Refugees/asylumseekersforAustralianoffshoreprocessing(Manus)

Others(eg;regional,IDPsetc)

REFUGEE AND REFUGEE LIKE SITUATION IN PNG

AUSTRALIAN OFF SHORE DETENTION CENTRES IN PNG

WEST PAPUAN REFUGEES FROM INDONESIA

•ClosestNeighbourofPNG(bothontheIslandofNewGuinea)

•WestPapuaRefugeesituationhasbeenongoingformorethanforty(47)years

•WestPapuaaformerDutchcolonyandwhenDutchadministrationtransferredtoIndonesiain1963,therewasresistance/separatistmovementforselfdetermination/independenceandcontinuestoday.

•WestPapuansareethnicallyMelanesiananddonotwanttobepartofIndonesiawhichisgeographicallyandethnicallyAsian(inracialdiscourseMelanesiameansBlackIslandfrizzyhairpeople)

•Theyhaveformedseparatist/proindependencemovementsagainstIndonesianGovernment

BACKGROUND

•IndonesiangovernmentHumanRightsviolationsagainstWestPapuans:includingdescriptionsofbombing,strafing,executions,imprisonmentswithouttrial,beatings,masskillings,tortureandrape

•20,000peopleinternallydisplaced,morethan13,000crossingtheboarderstoPNGanditisincreasing

CAUSE FOR ASYLUM

POSITIVE

•PNGisapartytoboththe1951conventionandthe1967protocol,socontinuestoworkwithUNHCRandotherorganizationslikeNGOs,donorsonWestPapuacases

•Grantingcitizenshipwithfeewaiver

PNG RESPONSE

NEGATIVE

•CriticismofPNGgovernmentontheconditionsoftherefugeecamps

•CriticismonPNG/AustraliaPacificSolutionPolicy(offshoredetentioncentres,ManusIsland)

PACIFIC REGIONAL RESPONSE

CalltojoinMelanesianSpearHeadGroup:Politicalbodymadeupof5MelanesianCountriesPNG,Fiji,SolomonIslands,Vanuatu,NewCaledoniaaFrenchterritory

PACIFIC REGIONAL RESPONSE

•Questionofstatesovereignty?CountriesinPacifictightlipped

•CallforUNtoinvestigatehumanrightsabuses(unsuccessful)

•CallforinternationalsupervisedvotebywestPapua(May3rd2016)

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

Contentious and intractable question

ShouldtherebesupportforthecourseofWestPapuaforself-determinationsothepoliticalrefugeesituationcanberesolved?

possibleornot?

CONCLUSION

RECOMMENDATIONS

•Recognitionofthemultidimensionalinterconnectednessbetween refugeeandrefugee-likeparadigmsacrossorigin,host,transitanddestinationcountries

•RegionalCooperationtolookatdurablesolutionsandmovebeyondasecurityparadigmtooneofprotectionandhumanrights

•Dialogueandcooperation,notonlybetweenstatesandregionalbodies,alsoinclusiveoflocal,nationalandregionalNGOs,civilsocietyandthosefleeingrefugeeandrefugee-likesituations

•Strategicallyaddressingtherootcausesofforceddisplacement

•Regionalandinternationalsolutionsneedtocallintoquestion,andtakeactionon,statesovereigntyrhetoricthatresultsinhumanrightsabusesandoverridesinternationallaw

THANK YOU!

MHRD – Asia Pacific

Hosana ChayHamza Khan

Natalie LowreyCatherine Bolinga