Co-convened the 2025 Regional Consultations with NGOs

On 17-18 September,  APRRN, UNHCR, and ICVA co-convened the online 2025 Regional Consultations with NGOs in Asia and the Pacific. It brought together over 250 civil society actors from 26 countries, representing a diverse range of organisations, including international and local NGOs, refugee-led, stateless-led, women-led, youth-led, SOGIESC-diverse, disability-led, ethnic and religious minority-led, and faith-based groups from across the region. The consultations explored how to more effectively realise protection in our region and solutions given changing conditions. APRRN member Khair Ullah provided introductory remarks and delivered the SCO Advisory Group Statement. From the secretariat, Hafsar and Klaus delivered opening and closing remarks, led some breakout sessions, and did interventions on a session on meaningful refugee participation, while Lars fed back from some breakout groups.

 

The content and format of the consultations agenda were co-developed and co-led with a fourteen-member Civil Society Advisory Group, a new initiative, co-developed with APRRN, which included organisations led by people with lived experience, to ensure that the consultations reflected the very diverse contexts in our region, brought voices directly to the consultations, and remained grounded in practical experience. 

Recommendations aimed at: 

1. Ensuring Rights-Based Protection Along Mixed Movement Routes
2. Center Refugee-Led and Community-Based Leadership in Protection and Solutions
3. Co-Create a Regional Capacity-Sharing Model for Local Leadership
4. Embed Mutual Accountability and Co-Design in All Partnerships
5. Institutionalize Meaningful Participation of affected communities Across All Governance Levels

For more information, please see here. The outcome report will be added soon.

 

APCRR 10 

The first part of APRRN’s 10th Asia Pacific Consultations on Refugee Rights (APCRR 10), namely the General Assembly (GA), was held online on Tuesday, 23 September 2025, bringing together 78 APRRN members from across the region, including 21 refugees.

The meeting began with introductions and updates from the network's leadership, including newly appointed members of our Thai board and a review of governance and financial matters. Presentations then followed on the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2023-2027, covering operational updates, thematic working group updates, and collective advocacy efforts and outcomes across the Asia-Pacific region. There was also a presentation and voting of six Thematic Working Groups, which will form part of APRRN’s next Steering Committee. Please see figure 1, which shows the key themes of our advocacy we have focused on in 202 and which are in line with the advocacy priorities laid out in APCRR 9 in 2023.

The latter part of the General Assembly was open to non-APRRN members and consisted of a panel discussion with one of the founders of APRRN, a UNHCR representative, an external advocacy partner, and two new APRRN members with lived experience. The discussion centered on refugee protection challenges and opportunities, exploring innovative solutions and discussing the relevance and importance of regional networks such as APRRN in advocating for the rights of refugees and other people on the move in situations of vulnerability. The second part of the APCRR will take place in-person in Bangkok in December, when the new Steering Committee is in place and will define APRRN’s Advocacy Priorities for the next two years.

Nomination Process for APRRN’s next Steering Committee

On 24 September, the Nomination Process for APRRN’s next Steering Committee began, and organisational members were encouraged to nominate themselves or someone else for the 22 new positions in the APRRN Steering Committee.

 

High-Level Dialogue on Rohingya and Myanmar 

On 29 September, Hafsar joined and spoke at the side event, “ Rohingya Inclusion, Sustainable Peace and ASEAN role” hosted by the Malaysian Permanent Mission to New York. In her remarks, she highlighted the urgent need for political education and capacity-building for Rohingya communities—particularly women and youth—to enable meaningful participation in Myanmar’s future democratic processes. She also underscored the importance of nurturing a diversity of Rohingya voices and supporting emerging young leaders who will shape inclusive political representation and reconciliation.

On 30 September, Hafsar also participated in “the high-level meeting on the issues of Rohingya and other minorities of Myanmar” at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It was the opportunity for  APRRN to contribute to discussions that brought renewed global attention to the Rohingya crisis. The event underscored the need for inclusive, community-led frameworks for repatriation and stronger regional cooperation to protect civil society space.

 

Please see more  information on the High-level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar here:

• Scope, modalities, format and organization of the High-Level Conference on Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar
• July 2025: Letter from the President of the General Assembly on the High-level conference on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other Minorities in Myanmar
• July 2025: Letter from the President of the General Assembly on the High-level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar – List of CSOs

 

Final sensemaking on Meaningful Refugee Participation guidelines

On 8 September, our external consultant Lina Srivastava led the Steering Committee, MRP advisory board, Secretariat, and board in a final sensemaking for the development of MRP guidelines that aim to improve the inclusion and leadership of those with lived experience with APRRN. We discussed areas where we need to improve the power imbalances, the election process, and suggestions for what we need to prioritise, such as better mentorship and capacity building for new leaders within APRRN. The guidelines are still in process, but will be shared at the beginning of 2026.

 

Members Spotlight! 

Robo Co-Op

Can refugees learn digital skills?

Can refugees teach digital skills?

Can refugees deliver IT projects?

Can refugees manage an IT business?

Can refugees save the world?

The answer is YES with Robo Co-op!

Robo Co-op is a refugee-led digital cooperative that co-creates no borders by integrating education, employability, and entrepreneurship. It’s an online community where refugees teach refugees how to use AI through online training, refugees hire refugees through remote work, and refugees move refugees to different countries through digital mobility pathways. It innovates complementary pathways through refugees’ meaningful participation, uniting tech partners and the global economy for a whole-of-society approach. Visit their website here.  

 

ACTIONS AND NEWS FROM MEMBERS

Nationality for All (NFA) has launched the third edition of the Statelessness Encyclopedia Asia Pacific (SEAP) project, expanding this comprehensive legal resource to 48 Asia-Pacific countries. This edition focuses on examining digital ID, legal identity, and their impact on statelessness in the region. PILnet paired NFA with pro bono legal teams to draft country-specific fact sheets and assess how legal identity systems affect statelessness for 8 of the new countries.

 

Equitable Partnerships Toolkit
The Equitable Partnerships Accountability Toolkit (EPAT) is a set of transformative tools co-developed by Asylum Access and a global cohort of 16 individuals from INGOs and local organizations, including PILnet and other Pledge members. The EPAT is designed to strengthen collaboration, accountability, and shared leadership across partnerships. At its core, the EPAT is a set of practical tools that support all partners — particularly local partners, including RLOs — to assess, reflect on, and improve how they work together.

 

Family Reunification Pledge Community Report 2024
At the last GRF, PILnet and other Pledge signatories also made commitments to use the law to advance different multi-stakeholder pledging initiatives, including the Family Reunification pledge. The Pledge seeks to move one million refugees through family reunification between 2023 - 2027. Learn more about the Pledge and its implementation in the recently released Family Reunification Pledge Community 2024 Report.

 

"Lost Land": Film Screening and Panel Discussion 

Hosted at The Fort, Fortify Rights organised the film screening and panel discussion on Rohingya protection in Thailand. The event brought together filmmakers, policy makers, and activists who shared powerful messages of hope and the need to ensure human rights for the Rohingya community in Thailand.

 

News from the region

Afghanistan: 

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation announced it has signed four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with domestic and international aid organisations, which will provide funding of more than US$1.23 million to assist returning refugees and internally displaced persons across multiple provinces. 

 

Thousands of Afghan refugees continued to return from Iran and Pakistan, with almost 1.5 million returning so far this year, including more than 23,000 people arriving during one weekend, and more than 1,200 families arriving in one day on 20 September. A further 350,000 Afghans were internally displaced in the first four months of 2025, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

 

Tens of thousands of people were displaced by a series of earthquakes in Afghanistan, which killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed more than 6.700 homes. UNHCR said the quakes have compounded existing humanitarian crises in Afghanistan caused by severe drought and the return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan. Returning Afghan refugees continued to arrive in the country, while Pakistan rejected the UN’s request to suspend the expulsion of Afghan refugees following the quake.

 

UN Rights Council Creates Afghanistan Accountability Body: Mechanism Will Investigate Grave Abuses by All Actors.

 

UNHCR launched an information campaign not to return Afghan women and girls.

 

Iran: 

Iran reacted to the reimposition of sanctions by threatening to release hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees into Turkey and Iraq.

 

Hossein Noushabadi, Director General of Parliamentary and Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasised that the necessary conditions are in place for the return of Iranian refugees, elaborating, “provided they refrain from engaging in any criminal activity”.

 

Pakistan:

Pakistani security forces shut down several Afghan refugee camps in Balochistan province, evicting some 13.500 residents and destroying their homes, shops and belongings. The move followed local media reports that the government plans to close 16 refugee camps in Balochistan, Khyber, Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, which currently house more than 90,000 Afghan refugees, as part of its continuing drive to repatriate Afghan nationals.

 

More than 1.8 million people have been displaced by floods in Pakistan’s Punjab province, with 4.1 million people affected in total, according to the country’s disaster management authorities. 

 

Indonesia:

UNHCR published the Indonesia - Fact Sheet (as of August 2025) reporting 11,909 people are registered, including 787 Rohingya refugees. 

 

Indonesia's Medan reaffirms humanitarian support for refugees

Amid rising anti-refugee sentiment in various regions across Indonesia, the Medan city administration has reaffirmed its commitment to a humanitarian approach by continuing to allow asylum seekers to temporarily reside in the city while they await resettlement in third countries. Medan Mayor Rico Tri Putra Bayu Waas emphasized that the city would not allow the kind of protests and forced evictions against refugees that have occurred elsewhere. Approximately 1,200 refugees are currently residing in Medan.

 

Thailand: 

Thailand grants Myanmar refugees working rights after the government reversed a year-long ban to allow Myanmar refugees to work. Aid agencies have welcomed the move, which comes amid US aid cuts and a potential shortage of cheap labor in Thailand. The change comes after, according to Thailand's Ministry of Labor, some 900,000 migrant workers from Cambodia left the country after the deadly five-day border dispute in July.

 

Thailand Eyes 42,000 Refugees to Address Cambodian Worker Exodus.

 

Myanmar Refugees Sign On for Work After Thailand Opens Labor Market. 

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday that Myanmar refugees would be able to work legally in 43 provinces across Thailand for the next 12 months, starting October 01, 2025. Refugees who have registered their names and skills at camp management offices said they were waiting to hear about the next step in the process.

 

The Ministry of Public Health plans to allocate 160 million baht to enhance healthcare access for over 700,000 Myanmar refugees residing in seven camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, which host over 700,000 displaced Myanmar nationals.

 

Chawaratt (Mic) Chawarangkul shared 10 Points for Reflection: The Future of Refugees and Thai Society.

 

Unlocking the Potential of Refugees: A New Policy for Thailand’s Refugees Towards Sustainable Coexistence.

 

Regional governments and experts met at the 14th meeting of the Asia Dialogue on Forced Migration in Bangkok. Organisers expressed concern that deteriorating conditions will force an increasing number of Rohingya to flee Myanmar and Cox's Bazar by sea in the coming months. Hafsar, Co-SG of APRRN, also took part.

 

Singapore:

Human Rights Watch made a Submission to the upcoming Universal Periodic Review of Singapore.

 

Malaysia:

UNHCR Malaysia office in Kuala Lumpur on 15 September 2025 launched the Digital Gateway Self-Service kiosk, designed to make key processes faster, easier, and more dignified for asylum-seekers.

Malaysia will voice its concerns over Australia’s proposal to relocate political asylum seekers to Pacific islands at a meeting this week, with Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan calling the move ‘unreasonable' and saying, ‘Australia’s plan to send them to a Pacific island must be reconsidered.’

• Malaysia and Australia to discuss trade, security and asylum seeker policy.
• Malaysia To Raise Refugee Resettlement Concerns At Bilateral Talks With Australia.

 

India:

The Indian Border Security Force pushed 28 people, including 12 Rohingyas, into Bangladesh through separate border points in Moulvibazar and Naogaon on 18 and 19 September, bringing the number of people, including Rohingyas and Indian nationals, pushed into Bangladesh by the BSF since May 7 to at least 2,219.

 

Despite Supreme Court Orders & Constitutional Guarantees, Rohingya Refugee Children In Jammu Denied Education.

Supreme Court disapproved UNHCR’s issuance of Refugee Cards, said India hasn’t ratified the Refugee Convention; denied interim relief to a Sudanese national awaiting asylum in Australia. Justice Surya Kant, who is in line to be the next Chief Justice of India, dismissed the plea.
 

Myanmar:  

A Route-Based Snapshot: Data & Trends for Refugees from Myanmar, as of end-August 2025.

 

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi appealed for increased aid access to support the people of Myanmar, where millions have been displaced by four years of conflict since the military coup in 2021, coupled with a devastating earthquake in March this year. Grandi called for international support to find solutions to enable millions of internally displaced people and refugees from Myanmar to return home.

 

“Night is dark for us”: Rohingya refugees need protection before repatriation.

“The goal of making it possible for the Rohingya to return home to Myanmar will remain distant until their security and rights are guaranteed.”

 

Bangladesh: 

WHO Cox’s Bazar: Rohingya Emergency Crisis - Situation Report

 

World Bank launches $700m projects for Rohingya, host communities.

“The Host and Rohingya Enhancement of Lives Project (HELP) and the Inclusive Services and Opportunities Project (ISO) — each carry a commitment of $350 million and will run until June 2028.”

 

Bangladesh Admits Bhasan Char Project Has Failed.

 

BHASAN CHAR: Failure of humanitarian spectacle.

 

Rethinking Bangladesh’s Rohingya Response.

Bangladesh’s model of Rohingya containment is not a temporary holding pattern -- it is politically and economically rewarding for the state. International actors must stop sustaining it.

 

Rohingya refugees express feeling unsafe, lacking control over their future.

 

Australia:

As a fourth person was taken back into detention for removal to Nauru, a parliamentary committee concluded that the government’s policy to fast-track removals to Nauru lacked objective legitimacy and could breach Australia’s human rights obligations. An Iraqi man failed in his High Court bid to prevent his transfer to Nauru. The government significantly expanded the contract for offshore processing in Nauru without going to tender, and people sent there reported having to skip meals due to the cost of food.

 

An Afghan women’s football team, comprising players who are in exile, has been approved to play in a friendly tournament in Dubai. 

 

Australia documented the deteriorating security for Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan, which has caused fear among the diaspora community in Australia.

 

The ABC highlighted the situation of a Nepali couple who have been separated from their children for over 13 years because a person’s mode of arrival into Australia determines their family reunion options.

 

The Administrative Review Tribunal found that a gay man from Malaysia, whose protection claim was refused, risks persecution if he is returned there.

 

Ararat, in Victoria, is the latest country town to look to refugees and migrants to fill workforce shortages.

 

At least 29 Americans have applied for protection in Australia.

 

The number of failed asylum seekers remaining in Australia has passed 100,000. The Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness published its submission to the UN Periodic Review on the right to nationality and the challenges of being stateless in Australia.

 

Social connections, service access, language: how disability can make things even harder for refugees.

 

Urgent calls for the federal government to adopt recommendations to combat Islamophobia.  

 

Afghan refugees in Pakistan are facing deportation amid local crackdown and Australian visa delays. 

 

Other news:

UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, said the 1951 Refugee Convention is increasingly being undermined by governments, particularly those from the Global North, threatening its very existence. Menikdiwela emphasised that, while headlines are dominated by refugees arriving in the Global North, about 75% of the 43 million refugees worldwide continue to be hosted by countries in the Global South.

 

Reports & Publications

UNHCR released its 2025 Refugee Education Report, which showed a small increase in access to education for refugees and moderate improvements in gender balance, while warning that recent progress is at risk of being reversed due to cuts in aid budgets.

 

'Asian Exceptionalism Revisited', Non-signatory States in International Refugee Law. (Brian Barbour) 
 

‘Australia’s immigration is not ‘out of control’ – it’s trending lower and has been for over a year’. (Patrick Commins)

 

A new global report on digital technologies and people on the move reveals that digital technologies promoted by some governments as ‘alternatives to detention’ – such as ankle monitors and tracking apps – too often expand surveillance and erode rights. Produced by the Kaldor Centre, International Detention Coalition, and York University’s Refugee Law Lab, the report identifies troubling trends and outlines a positive path forward, setting out 10 guiding principles to ensure technology reduces, rather than extends, detention. Watch and read the report, ‘From Surveillance to Empowerment: Advancing the Responsible Use of Technology in Alternatives to Detention’.
 

Refugee law doesn’t develop in a vacuum. The people who write about it — their identities, experiences, and perspectives — shape not only what gets studied, but also how knowledge is produced and shared. In an exciting new chapter, Kaldor Centre Senior Research Associate and APRRN member, Tristan Harley, breaks ground to ask critical questions about authorship and situated knowledge in refugee law. By tracing the field’s evolution from doctrinal roots to feminist, Global South, and other critical approaches, Dr Harley shows how 'who we are' as scholars matters deeply. He calls for more transparency and reflection in academic practice, so that refugee law scholarship can remain relevant, inclusive, and trustworthy. Read this important work, 'Look Who’s Talking: Reflections on Authorship and Situated Knowledge in Refugee Law Scholarship'.

 

‘Social connections, service access, language: how disability can make things even harder for refugees’. (Tadgh McMahon and Gerard Goggin)

 

“Immigration. Why Australia should favour skilled migrants over family reunions”. (Alan Gamlen and Peter McDonald)

 

‘Foregrounding Displacement in the Treaty on the Protection of Persons in the event of Disasters’. (Jane McAdam and Thomas Mulder)

 

APRRN/Members’ Job Vacancies

 

Programme Officer Indonesia: Afghanistan Scholarship Project

Location: Jakarta, Indonesia 

One full-time position, to be appointed subject to funding confirmation. Fixed term until 31 December 2026, with renewal subject to the availability of funding and performance evaluations. Start date no later than January 2026.

How to apply: 

Submit your application no later than 2 November, including a cover letter and CV. Applications will only be accepted through this platform. For inquiries regarding the position, please contact Afghanistan Country Director Helena Olsson at helena.olsson@rwi.lu.se

 

The Statelessness and Dignified Citizenship Coalition – Asia Pacific (SDCC-AP) is a regional civil society network working to end statelessness and promote equal citizenship rights across the Asia Pacific. It is a coalition of organisations, activists, and people with lived experiences of statelessness that is open for membership applications.

 

Entries open for Ockenden International Prizes 2026

Celebrate and uplift visionary projects that foster self-reliance among refugees, internally displaced persons, and asylum seekers across the globe.   Deadline: Nov 30, 2025

 

The Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Germany, has launched its CrossCulture Programme CCP Fellowship Programme for civil society professionals to gain international experience, expand their networks, and enhance their transcultural skills, including a monthly stipend of 650 euros, round-trip airfare, Accommodation, a monthly public transportation ticket within the fellow’s city of residence, health insurance, reimbursement of any visa fees incurred. (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam).       Deadline: 10 December 2025

 

The Philippines, The Youth Empowered Samar, is now requesting applications for its YES Awards.      Deadline: 16 November 2025

 

The Georg Eckert Institute (GEI) is pleased to announce the Georg Arnhold Senior Fellowship Program for Education and Sustainable Peace. Area: Civil Society Development, Capacity Building, Education, Individuals, Journalists, Leaders, Media, Peace & Conflict Resolution, Research, Sustainable Development.     Deadline: 14 November 2025
 

Funding opportunities

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs  - Grants for Civil Society Actors to Protect and Support Human Rights Defenders.        Deadline: 18 November 2025

 

People Powered - Mentorship Program called Rising Stars (New Zealand), designed to strengthen participatory democracy efforts worldwide.     Deadline: 8 December 2025

 

UN Women, with funding from the European Union, is launching the WYDE | Women’s Leadership Initiative to advance women’s political participation and leadership at all levels.      Deadline: 10 November 2025

 

UN Women has launched the Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Global Award for Women's Empowerment to recognize and celebrate the outstanding efforts of individuals, civil society, public institutions, and private sector actors working toward gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.     Deadline: 20 March 2026

 

International Trans Fund is inviting applications from trans-led grassroots organizations across the world that are working to strengthen community resilience, leadership, and collective action.      Deadline: 01 December 2025

 

UN-Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) has launched a Call for Proposals for not-for-profit organizations, including national and international NGOs in Pakistan, to collaborate on the project “Harmonizing Afghan Refugees and Host Communities in Urban Slums in Pakistan for Peaceful Coexistence and Social, Gender-Positive Inclusiveness.”

 

The British Council will be launching the Climate Skills Global Collaboration Grants 2025 (India, Indonesia, Viet Nam), offering £85,000 for international partnerships to develop youth green entrepreneurship skills.      Deadline: 14 November 2025

The University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) is now accepting proposals for its 2026 UPCWGS Research Grant to support cutting-edge research on women and gender in the Philippines.      Deadline: 03 November 2025

 

The Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) Direct Support Stream is accepting concept notes from eligible applicants in countries with active peace processes.      Deadline: 31 December 2025

 

The Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) Rapid Response Window (RRW) is accepting concept notes from eligible applicants in countries with active peace processes (Burma(Myanmar), Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, East Timor (Timor-Leste), Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Viet Nam).      Deadline: 31 December 2025

 

The UN Trust Fund has launched a new Call for Proposals to provide four-year grants, offering both core and flexible funds, to civil society organizations working to end violence against women and girls.

 

The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation is now accepting applications for its HealthPro2 Grant Program covering Food Safety, Nutrition, Community Development, Health, Health & Hygiene, Health care, Malnutrition, Poverty Alleviation, Refugee & Asylum Seekers, Sustainable Development, Sanitation, and Water.       Deadline: 29 December 2025 

 

100x Impact Accelerator Programme 2026/27 seeking visionary ventures committed to creating transformative social and environmental change on a global scale (including on Economic Development, Education, Climate Change, Environment, Health, Refugee & Asylum Seeker).      Deadline: 10 November 2025