From the category archives:

Joint Statements

Statement of concern on the detention of refugees and asylum seekers of Pakistani origin in Thailand

20 December 2010

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned and shocked at the arrest and detention of 86 refugees and asylum seekers of Pakistani origin in Bangkok. These vulnerable people were arrested from their homes in a dawn raid and taken to the Bangkok Detention Centre. We have information that indicates that almost all the detainees have either [...]

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Joint statement on Australian asylum processing suspension: violations of Australia’s international human rights obligations that undermine civil society efforts to strengthen refugee protections throughout the Asia Pacific region

27 April 2010

We, the undersigned, condemn the Australian government’s decision to suspend its processing of all applications for asylum from individuals from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, for three and six months respectively. The Suspension Policy is predicated on a profound misreading of the current situations in Sri Lanka and in Afghanistan. It plainly violates Australia’s human rights [...]

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Joint NGO Statement to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights on the Protection of Refugees in Southeast Asia

24 March 2010

We, the undersigned, appeal to the newly-established ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to take into consideration the poor protection of the rights of refugees in this region as it meets on 28 March 2010 in Jakarta. We note with great interest that the AICHR has identified a study on migration as one of [...]

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Joint Statement on the Principle of Non-Refoulement and the Recent Forced Deportations of the Uighurs from Cambodia and the Lao Hmong from Thailand

14 January 2010

We, the undersigned, condemn the actions in the last days of 2009 of some Asian governments in requesting, encouraging and performing the forcible deportation (refoulement) of refugees and asylum seekers from Cambodia and Thailand.

We demand that all governments in the Asia-Pacific region reaffirm the importance of the principle of non-refoulement of asylum seekers and refugees.

We further call on these governments and all governments in the Asia-Pacific region to resolve to make 2010 a year in which the basic rights of refugees and asylum seekers are recognised, including the fundamental principle of non-refoulement.

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Joint Statement Calling for the Protection of Displaced Peoples, Civilians and Human Rights in Sri Lanka

19 May 2009

We, the undersigned, are disturbed by the deplorable human rights and displaced people’s protection situation in Sri Lanka resulting from the recent clashes between the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that almost 200,000 civilians have been internally displaced due to the escalating violence in the region over the past two months. This exodus brings the total number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sri Lanka to over 500,000, making it one of the most acute IDP situations in the world. IDPs fleeing the conflict zone have not been permitted freedom of movement instead being forcibly detained in more than 29 camps, public buildings and transit sites in government‐controlled areas, in many cases separated from family members and without access to adequate food, water and sanitation, medical assistance and psycho‐social care, or protection for particularly vulnerable groups, especially women and children. IDPs also do not have access to human rights organisations or other civil society groups.

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