BEBESEA’s Statement on the World Refugee Day 2024
On the occasion of World Refugee Day 2024, we, BEBESEA, celebrate the strengths and contributions of refugees around the world and honour those who are involved in advocating the rights of all refugees and supporting their livelihood and wellbeing. Thus, we call for all governments to exercise their human rights duties in providing fair and efficient asylum systems and documentation mechanisms and treating all refugees, people seeking asylum, and stateless people in their jurisdictions always with dignity, upholding the non-refoulement (the prohibition to return refugees to a territory where they would be at risk of persecution) and non-discriminatory principles.
Everyone has the right to seek asylum and international protection as set out in the international (Art. 14 UDHR), regional, national laws and frameworks. Effective procedures and prompt decisions on asylum claims allow refugees to enjoy their human rights including the right to life, health, education and work, as well as freedom of expression, association and assembly. This will lead to social, economic and political inclusion of people who are displaced from their homes, giving them protection from hate speech, hate crime, stigamtisation, discrimination, all forms of torture, and inhuman and degrading treatment.
Refugees including people seeking asylum are one of the most vulnerable groups in the world, while an increasing number of people are being displaced fleeing from wars, conflicts, climate disasters, and political prosecutions. At the end of 2023, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide was estimated at 117.3 million, encompassing refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people, and other people in need of international protection (UNHCR, 2023).
The Asia–Pacific hosted 7.8 million refugees and people in refugee-like situations in 2019, accounting for 38% of the global refugee population. While the region is home to the largest refugee population, it also has the lowest percentage of countries that have ratified the Refugee Convention of 1951 and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugee — only 20 out of 48 countries (Venturi, 2021). Non-ratification countries include Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, North Korea, and Mongolia, whose current governments have not shown any plan towards ratification (Ling & Hayashi, 2024). As a consequence, refugees in this region have faced a “legal limbo”.
On this World Refugee Day, we call all stakeholders to learn from the experiences of refugees and people seeking asylum and work together with them to ensure that their human rights are protected as guaranteed by international human rights law. It is our responsibility to create an inclusive society where people displaced from their homes can find safety and live life with dignity wherever they find new homes.
BEBESEA Secretariat
International human rights law provides a comprehensive legal framework for the protection of all persons present on the territory of a state and/or placed under its jurisdiction. Most of the provisions contained in the Refugee Convention, such as the prohibition to return refugees to a territory where they would be at risk of persecution (the “principle of non-refoulement”), can also be found in international human rights law, in particular in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) as well as in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).