Some highlights of our work in numbers, in the first half of 2026 Jan - June:

• We have delivered talks, advocated, and intervened in 68 high-level meetings, panels, workshops, and consultations on issues related to sourcing funding solutions, meaningful refugee participation, Rohingya, Protection, National systems, and legal pathways across Thailand, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and Australia. (list not conclusive)
• We have engaged 1058 people from funders, governments, INGOs, and civil society through our in-room advocacy interventions. 
• We have facilitated, with our working group chairs, 48 member network meetings, consultations, and working groups, developing joint advocacy, projects, learning, and discussion.
• We have facilitated 50,000 euros so far this year to fund Refugee-Led Organisations (RLO) member projects linked to education, direct assistance, legal aid, and research projects in Bangladesh.
• We have trained 28 refugee leaders and activists in Legal rights across Afghanistan and Iran, and in Emergency Preparedness and Response Training.

 

‘The meetings provided a safe and inclusive space where I felt heard and understood by the participants and by the facilitator/s of the meetings.’ –  Working Group member

 

Our Advocacy Highlights and Impact

Hafsar and Chris Lewa have been interviewed and quoted in the news on “Why more Rohingya are taking deadly boat journeys”.

"They feel helpless in the camps in Bangladesh, not being able to work, not being able to do anything, and now affected by aid cuts," Lewa said.

Hafsar Tameesuddin said she had heard stories of women preparing for their journey by buying contraceptive pills knowing they would be raped by the smugglers. "That broke my heart," she said. "Any woman, any girl, regardless of what your nationality is, knowing perfectly well that you will get raped on the boat but you're still choosing to [go] — that is the explanation of how terrible and deteriorating the situation is in Cox's Bazar."

 

India: Submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Issues Related to the Detention of Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers. The Global Detention Project (GDP) and the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) welcome the opportunity to provide information relevant to the review of India’s twentieth and twenty-first periodic reports during the 118th session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

 

Member’s Spotlight! 

The Refugee Women Support Collective (RWSC) is a refugee-led initiative based in Malaysia that was established in 2024 to empower refugee and asylum-seeking women through community support, livelihood opportunities, leadership development and access to essential services. Led by refugee women, RWSC creates safe spaces where women can share their experiences, strengthen their skills, and build networks of support within their communities. Since its establishment, RWSC has grown into a network of more than 196 refugee and asylum-seeking women from different nationalities and backgrounds.

Over the past year, RWSC has organised a wide range of community-led initiatives to address the challenges faced by refugee women and their families. In partnership with the Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS), RWSC helped coordinate a mobile clinic that provided medical consultations, health screenings, eye care services, and referrals to more than 180 refugees. The collective has also conducted awareness sessions on gender-based violence prevention partnership with The Sisterhood, facilitated referrals to service providers, and organised financial literacy and livelihood programmes to strengthen women's economic resilience. In addition, RWSC has implemented self-care and psychosocial support activities aimed at improving emotional well-being, reducing social isolation, and fostering solidarity among refugee women. Through partnerships with local organisations, universities, and regional networks, RWSC continues to amplify refugee women's voices and strengthen their participation in research, advocacy, and community-led solutions.

                                               Visit Their LinkedIn                                         Visit Their Instagram

 

ACTIONS AND NEWS FROM MEMBERS AND PARTNERS

 

Joint Statement: Malaysia must uphold international law and protect Rohingya from detention and returns to Myanmar.

 

This visual investigation explores the psychological landscape of Rohingya life in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Drawing on documentary photography, community interviews, field observations, desk research, and a community-led wellbeing survey involving 247 respondents, it examines how displacement, statelessness, restricted movement, and prolonged uncertainty shape everyday experience. Rather than focusing solely on past violence, the project traces the emotional, social, and physical consequences of a future that remains suspended. 

 

Are Rohingyas Taking Over Local Malaysian Businesses? | with Rohingya Rights Activist Nur Sadek.

 

NRC, The world’s most neglected displacement crises: 10th edition, June 2026, includes Afghanistan.

 

APRRN at FCCT, Shared Futures: Australia's Commitment to Refugee Protection in the Asia-Pacific.

 

The Border Consortium (TBC): Refugee-Led Governance in Transition: Leading the Shift from Aid Dependence to Self-Reliance on the Thailand–Myanmar Border. TBC has just released a new research paper, ‘Refugee-Led Governance in Transition: Leading the Shift from Aid Dependence to Self-Reliance on the Thailand–Myanmar Border’. Click the link to read the paper.
 

TBC: Health and Wellbeing of Children ‘Who Stay Back’ in Refugee Camps Due to Parental Labour Migration. Since the right-to-work policy took effect in October 2025, more refugees are leaving camp to earn a living, a vital step towards self-reliance. But as parental labour migration rises, children who stay behind face new pressures. TBC’s new report finds these children caught between funding cuts and workplace barriers, straining protection systems. For the transition to self-reliance to succeed, they need more support.

 

CRCP: Resourcing and global context primary focus of annual consultations 

The annual Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP) took place against a backdrop of reduced global resettlement quotas and a widening protection gap, as highlighted by the newly released Projected Global Resettlement Needs report. The meetings bring together UNHCR, governments, NGOS, refugees, the private sector and academics to discuss and advance resettlement issues of common interest.  

A change in format this year meant that the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) was the sole Australian NGO representative. RCOA ran consultations and administered a survey to directly shape its key talking points, prior to the discussions. 

The two-day deliberations focused on the global context, priorities and resourcing needs of UNHCR, strategic use of resettlement, maintaining and encouraging new countries to be involved in resettlement, countering harmful narratives and reframing resettlement and complementary pathways. Co-CEO Adama Kamara spoke on strategies to build public and political support for refugees and moderated a panel focused on data and research on integration outcomes of resettlement. 

 

Briefing on the 75th anniversary of the Refugee Convention for People with Lived Experience. Watch the video here.

 

News Release Fortify Rights - Eight Years On, No Justice for Disappearance of Rohingya Islamic Scholar. Authorities should investigate Rohingya armed group abductions and support families of the disappeared.

 

News from the region

Afghanistan: 

UNDP and UNHCR called for ‘urgent, sustained investment’ in Afghanistan to manage the impact of the return of 6 million Afghans since 2023, which has further strained resources in communities already facing acute poverty, climate shocks and lack of economic opportunities. 

 

Nearly 1,500 families remain displaced along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, out of about 5,000 families displaced by Pakistani missile strikes in March, according to local media. The displaced people, some of them still living in tents in extreme heat, said they cannot return because their homes were destroyed in the strikes, and they fear further outbreaks of fighting. 

 

Afghanistan: Anticipated impacts of the Middle East and Pakistan–Afghanistan conflicts on trade and associated humanitarian needs.

 

The EU hosts Taliban officials in Brussels for the first time. Brussels has defended its decision to hold limited talks with Afghanistan's "de facto authorities" as ⁠necessary to deport failed asylum seekers who commit crimes or are deemed dangerous.

 

UNHCR/UNDP: Since 2023, more than 6 million Afghans have returned to the country, including around 2.9 million in 2025. More than 750,000 people have already returned so far this year, with a further 2.5 million expected by the end of 2026.

 

World Report – Afghanistan section, June 2026, includes sections on:  Women’s and Girls’ Rights,  Corporal Punishment, Extrajudicial Killings, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture; Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity,  Attacks on the Media, Civil Society, and Minority Communities,  Economic and Humanitarian Crises; Afghan Refugees, Attacks on Civilians, Justice and Accountability. 

 

Australia: 

A boat carrying asylum seekers and two alleged people smugglers landed off the coast of far north Queensland, near Weipa. The Home Affairs minister stated the two alleged people smugglers have been charged and the others have been removed from the country. The Opposition home affairs spokesman and the Queensland Police Minister both criticised the government for the border breach. 

 

A Hazara writer’s journey to citizenship. Ali Amiri, a renowned Hazara writer and Islamic scholar, was among the 120,000 people evacuated from Kabul in August 2021, a journey he wrote about in The Book of Exodus, published three years ago. After five years in Australia, Amiri became an Australian citizen last month, alongside 1,200 people from 70 countries. 

 

Innovative program sparks unexpected friendships between Jewish volunteers and Muslim refugees A Somali mother and son, Naima and Feisal, were resettled to Australia with the help of the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Program (CRISP). Naima had been kidnapped by the terrorist group Al-Shabaab and subject to physical and sexual violence. After waiting nine years in Kenya, she and Feisal were referred by UNHCR for resettlement and supported by a group of Jewish friends, as part of CRISP, to settle in Melbourne. One of the volunteers remarked that ‘most of us have parents or grandparents who came here as refugees… so, there's this understanding of what it's like to come as a stranger into a new land’. Naima hopes to become an interpreter in Somali and Swahili, giving back to the country that has welcomed her. 

 

In Brisbane and surrounding areas, two not-for-profit organisations are supporting migrants and refugees to learn skills and integrate into the community. Esperance Nyirabarahinyuza started Women’s Power of Inspiration (WPI) to help other refugee and migrant women address trauma, loneliness and isolation. Esperance fled Rwanda in the 1990s and spent years in camps in the DRC, Kenya and Uganda; two days before she was due to fly out to Australia, her two children were killed in an attack in Uganda. She started WPI to bring women together ‘to learn English, understand Australian finances, recognise domestic violence, prepare for work and, perhaps most importantly, support one another’. It now includes more than 100 members. You Belong is another support organisation, providing driving lessons for refugees. It is particularly important in regional communities to help refugees access employment, services and socialise. 

 

The Afghan embassy in Canberra has closed, reportedly following a request from the Taliban government. For the Afghan community in Australia, media reported, this represents a further erosion of trust in Australia’s willingness to counter the Taliban. 

 

Supporters of the One Nation party have expressed confusion and disagreement with Pauline Hanson’s comments about monoculturalism. While many One Nation supporters agree with reducing immigration, they also expressed concern about ‘the party's rhetoric fuelling racism’. 

 

What the Socceroos taught us about belonging. The World Cup has shown Australia that our national identity is about diversity, not uniformity.

 

High Court decision paves way for justice for people harmed by indefinite immigration detention.

In court
Crikey and The Conversation published explainers on how the High Court’s reversal of the Al-Kateb case, whereby successive governments indefinitely detained people even when there was no prospect of deportation, has made the government liable for damages. Two people were charged with people smuggling offences after they landed a boat carrying five people on a beach in Far North Queensland.

A woman who came to Australia as a refugee became the first woman from Afghanistan to summit Mt Everest. As all eyes turned to the Football World Cup, SBS News profiled how football in Australia embraces refugees and migrants.

 

After a successful trial, the refugee sponsorship program CRISP has become permanent. The Guardian featured a group in Apollo Bay who participated in the program to secure safe haven for an interpreter who had worked for Australia’s military forces in Afghanistan.

 

Asylum Insight’s Charlotte Stump published an overview of Australia’s history of externalising its protection obligations to others. The UNHCR released its 2025 Global Trends report, noting a 3% decline in the number of refugees but an increase in the number of internally displaced people.

 

My mother led our family to safety. 26 years on, we are part of the Australian story. Refugees are simply people whose lives were interrupted – whether that be by conflict, circumstance or persecution. Anyone can become a refugee. My father was a professor living a normal, safe life with his family. My mother an economist, juggling a career and two young kids. As many of us do today.

 

Let’s unpack five common myths about migration in Australia. How does Australia’s migration system actually work? 5 common myths busted. Australia’s migration system is complicated. It’s heavily influenced by politics and global pressures, which can make it difficult to understand. This often results in lively debates across the dinner table. But given migration is dominating public discussion at the moment, it’s worth explaining how the system operates so we all have a better understanding of what’s true and what isn’t. 

 

The Australian Human Rights Commission criticised the government's response to the United Nations' Human Rights Council's recent Universal Periodic Review as lacking ambition. The Albanese Government declined to accept recommendations to uphold the principle of non-refoulement, also rejecting every recommendation to end mandatory and offshore immigration detention and to legislate a national Human Rights Act. Commissioner Lorraine Finlay cited in particular compliance with the Optional Protocol on the Convention Against Torture through effective inspection mechanisms and respect for non-refoulement in refugee determinations. Other rights groups, including the Human Rights Law Centre and Refugee Council of Australia, also called the response lacklustre and dismaying. 

 

Who among us wasn't once a newcomer? Every Australian family was once the newcomer; some arrived generations ago, others arrived last week. Yet, every generation seems to forget that fact just in time to fear the next one. What if we stopped seeing people as migrants, refugees, asylum seekers or foreigners and started seeing them as newcomers – people beginning the same journey our own ancestors once began?

 

Migration is dropping, but public concern is climbing. Why? Net overseas migration is declining. It peaked in 2023, and as of mid-2026 it has dropped by 45%. Yet public sentiment has moved the other way. The Lowy Institute’s 2026 poll, released last week, found 55% of Australians believe the number of migrants coming to Australia each year is too high. That is a record for the poll, up two points from last year and seven points from 2024.

 

Al Jazeera: They fled war as child refugees; now they’re playing at World Cup 2026. Multiple players who were refugees are now in the final 16, including three of Australia’s players.

 

Bangladesh: 

At least 14 Rohingya refugees, including at least five children, were killed by landslides in camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region. Heavy monsoon rainfall caused hillsides to collapse at four locations in the camps, burying refugees’ shelters in mud and debris while they slept. Authorities said they have relocated more than 1,000 refugees from risky hillsides to safer areas of the camps.

 

‘Where did the Billion Dollar Funding for Rohingya Refugees Go?’, OPINION by Mohammed Zonaid (Cox’s bazar, Bangladesh).

 

Bangladeshi authorities reinforced patrols along the Myanmar border as Myanmar’s military intensified its operations in areas in Rakhine state held by the Arakan Army, prompting fears of another influx of Rohingya refugees.

 

UNHCR ROHINGYA RELIEF WORK - UN audit finds funds going down the drain. The original OIOS report can be found here.

 

Eight killed in landslides at Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. At least eight Rohingya Muslims, including some children, were killed and several others injured early on Monday after heavy monsoon rains triggered multiple landslides at refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh, officials ‌said.

 

The Myth of Rohingya Aid Dependency. The Rohingya are not “fully dependent” on anyone. They are dependent only to the extent that they have been made dependent -- by design, by policy, and by a system that manages dependency rather than ending it. … Informal economies pulse through the camps because they must. When WFP cuts the ration to seven or eight dollars per person per month, there is no choice but to find income elsewhere…. A more honest description of the Rohingya context would be this: The Rohingya are aid-reliant but economically active -- working illegally, exploited systematically, and criminalised for trying to live.

 

Severe flooding continues to impact people in Bangladesh across 10 districts, including Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar. As of 14 July 2026, the disaster has resulted in 53 deaths and 39 injuries. In Cox’s Bazar, more than 9,700 people have been displaced and temporarily relocated. The makeshift shelters in Cox’s Bazaar are highly vulnerable during the monsoon season, which impacts shelter, health, and other important facilities. 

 

15 Rohingya Killed, Over 26,000 Affected by Landslides and Flooding in Bangladesh Camps: UNHCR.

Heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 15 Rohingya refugees and affected more than 26,000 people in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar camps, with landslides, flash floods and damaged shelters.

 

MSF statement on reported Rohingya boat tragedy in the Bay of Bengal. An estimated 260 Rohingya people — including men, women, and children — reportedly capsized in the Bay of Bengal on 29 June 2026 while en route to Malaysia. No survivors have been reported so far. The bodies of approximately 10 Rohingya people, believed to have been passengers on the same boat, were reportedly found along the coastline of northern Rakhine State.

 

Bangladesh actively considering talks with all sides in Myanmar for Rohingya repatriation: PM: Prime Minister Tarique Rahman says Bangladesh is seeking a sustainable solution rooted in Rakhine State. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today said that Bangladesh is actively considering establishing communication and dialogue not only with Myanmar’s junta government but also with all relevant parties, with the aim of ensuring the safe repatriation of Rohingyas.

 

PM to head national committee on Rohingya repatriation strategy: 11-member committee will formulate a national strategy and coordinate implementation across agencies. The committee comprises the home minister, foreign minister, adviser to the ministries of finance and planning, adviser to the ministry of defence and Armed Forces Division, inspector general of police (IGP), director general of the National Security Intelligence (NSI), director general of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and director general of the Bangladesh Coast Guard. The principal staff officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces Division will serve as the committee's chief coordinator, while the director general of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) will act as its member-secretary.

 

India:

Millions in India’s West Bengal risk losing food rations and welfare benefits after the state government removed more than nine million names from voter rolls. Leaders of the Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party said the deletions targeted deceased people, “infiltrators”, and “illegal” Bangladeshi migrants. Researchers have found that Muslims have been disproportionately affected. More than 2 million deleted people have been allowed to keep their benefits pending appeals. Critics have warned that the process is part of a larger effort to strip Indian Muslims of political rights.
 

“Citizenship as Bordering Practice: The Penal-Legal Mediation of Migration as ‘Infiltration’ in India,” M. Paul, Citizenship Studies. 

 

Assam Rifles, Manipur authorities launch biometric registration drive for displaced Myanmar nationals.

 

Indonesia:

UNHCR - Monthly Statistical Report April 2026.

 

Time for Indonesia to end constructive refoulement practice. As global anti-immigrant sentiment rises, Indonesia’s strict ban on refugee employment is creating a crisis of "constructive refoulement", robbing displaced people of their dignity and forcing an urgent need for legal reform. 

 

Words From the Water: The Making of Rohingya Poet - PART 1. None of us want to leave our homes unless it's because our lives are in danger - that's why many like Abdu Rahman and others from the Rohingya ethnic group have to flee Myanmar for their safety. 

 

Words From the Water: The Making of Rohingya Poet - PART 2. A Voice That Has Not Learned to Quiet Itself.

 

Important Update on the Skilled Refugee Labour Agreement Pilot (Australia).

 

Townhall Meeting on Access to Health Assistance for Independent Living Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Indonesia.

 

The Jakarta Post, Refugee Women’s Voices Matter in Reforming RI’s Refugee Policy”, 24.06.2026. It examines the ongoing review of Presidential Regulation No. 125/2016 and argues that Indonesia’s refugee framework should evolve from managing refugee arrivals to protection. Drawing on findings from Komnas Perempuan’s consultations with refugee communities, the piece proposes a more rights-based, gender-responsive, and participatory approach to refugee governance. 

 

Iran:  

UNHCR: Middle East Situation: Emergency Update #21 as of 8 July 2026. 

Iran continues to host the largest refugee population in the sub-region, the vast majority of whom are from Afghanistan. Since the onset of the crisis, approximately 268,800 people have returned from Iran to Afghanistan, bringing total returns in 2026 to around 374,900 as of 4th July. Deportations accounted for approximately 79 percent of all returns since the onset of the crisis. In June, the overall number of returns declined by 17 percent —from 79,400 in May to 66,100 — with daily returns averaging approximately 2,200, compared with 2,600 in May.

 

Following the expiry of Amayesh cards - refugee identification documents for Afghan refugees in Iran on 21 July 2026, CAFIA informed UNHCR that the cards had been automatically extended until 22 September 2026, providing refugees with additional time to meet renewal requirements, including obtaining health insurance, completing SANA registration (required for refugees to access certain Government services), and verifying housing codes.

 

In the US, a lawsuit was filed claiming the Trump administration has been illegally sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government since March 2025. Such information could put asylum applicants at grave risk of detention or torture on their return, and also endanger their family members and acquaintances remaining in Iran, according to a lawyer for the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which is representing the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund in the suit. 

Rights Group Says Security Measures in Iran Increase Legal Risks for Afghan Migrants. In recent months, Iranian authorities have expanded security measures and deportation operations involving undocumented Afghan migrants.

 

Malaysia:

UNHCR- Malaysia Annual Results Report 2025.

By year end, UNHCR had registered approximately 214,000 refugees and asylum seekers, reflecting an 11% increase compared to 2024. The population remained predominantly from Myanmar (90%), alongside  smaller groups from more than 60 other countries. The registered population consisted of men (46%),  women (23%), boys (16%) and girls (15%). An estimated 9,153 stateless people primarily of Indian Tamil origin – resided in West Malaysia, while comprehensive data for East Malaysia remained unavailable. … Priorities included stronger engagement with authorities on the emerging national framework, advocacy for access to  territory and protection safeguards, expansion of community-based protection approaches, and targeted  resource mobilisation to mitigate the impact of funding shortfalls on essential services.

 

PMX’s Safe Return Strategy for the Rohingya Faces a Sovereign Wall.

 

ASEAN must act before it is too late for Myanmar’s Rohingya.

 

Refugees Must Respect Malaysian Laws In Exchange For Protection, Says UNHCR.

 

140 Deaths in Immigration Detention Since Start of Enforcement Campaign. Investigate deaths and abuse in immigration detention centers; ensure humane detention conditions. 

 

15 years is too slow': Mahar urges UNHCR to speed up Rohingya resettlement.

 

Home minister says 78 Rohingya granted refugee status, 25 eligible for work under DPP pilot scheme.

 

Rohingya in Malaysia and the language of disease.

 

Refugee Policy must Balance Humanitarian Duties and National Security – DPM Ahmad Zahid. “This situation requires every country, including Malaysia, to have clear policies and management mechanisms that balance policies with the need to safeguard national security and sovereignty.” Reviewed the implementation of the Refugee Registration Document (DPP) … discussed streamlining guidelines on access to education and healthcare to ensure they are better coordinated, legally compliant, and easier for relevant agencies to administer.

 

Stronger SUHAKAM Powers, Refugee Law Among Key Proposals Raised In Dewan Rakyat. 

 

Myanmar:  

Bangladeshi authorities reinforced patrols along the Myanmar border as Myanmar’s military intensified its operations in areas in Rakhine state held by the Arakan Army, prompting fears of another influx of Rohingya refugees. The number of people killed in the conflict in Myanmar since the 2021 military coup has now exceeded 100,000, according to the monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), and more than 3.7 million people remain internally displaced across the country, based on UN data. 

 

The number of people killed in the conflict in Myanmar since the 2021 military coup has now exceeded 100,000, according to the monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), and more than 3.7 million people remain internally displaced across the country, based on UN data.

 

UNHCR, Myanmar Annual Results Report 2025.

The humanitarian situation in Myanmar further deteriorated in 2025, marked by intensified armed conflict, widespread human rights violations, economic decline, restricted humanitarian access, and natural disasters.

Armed conflict remained the primary driver of displacement nationwide, with natural hazards further compounding movement. By year-end, an estimated 3.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 519,000 stateless people were reported, compared to 3.5 million displaced people in 2024. This increase reflected growing vulnerability and protracted and secondary displacement.  

Women, children, older people, and people with disabilities continued to face heightened risks of trafficking, gender-based violence, family separation, and the loss of their documentation. Stateless Rohingya in Rakhine faced severe movement restrictions, limited access to essential services and elevated protection risks due to their lack of recognized citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law. Deteriorating security conditions, human rights violations, reduced livelihood options, and increased restrictions on humanitarian assistance contributed to a rise in irregular maritime movements from Rakhine, as people sought safety and family reunification.

Protection risks were further compounded by the enforcement of the People’s Military Service Law in 2025, which expanded the risk of forced recruitment for men aged 18 to 35 years and women aged 18 to 27, as well as children. The 2025 Results Monitoring Survey revealed that fear of recruitment by armed groups was a key driver of movement across all population groups.

 

Two boats carrying more than 500 people have reportedly capsized off the coast of Myanmar. The vessels departed from Myanmar’s Rakhine State in late June, with reports that some passengers had travelled from camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar. If verified, the disaster brings the death toll in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal to more than 800 people this year. IOM and UNHCR called for ‘enhanced search and rescue efforts, access to asylum and protection, and actions against smuggling and trafficking networks’. Both agencies remarked that the disaster underscores the ‘continued lack of sustainable solutions for Rohingya communities’. 

 

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation welcomes the Adoption of a Resolution on the Rohingya Muslims by the Human Rights Council.

The Group called for international, independent and transparent investigations to hold perpetrators to account and to strip away impunity that has long enabled systemic discrimination against the Rohingya. 

The resolution expresses deep concern that, despite the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice on 23 January 2020, Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, including women and children, continue to suffer from targeted killings, indiscriminate violence and serious injuries, including by means of indiscriminate fire, airstrikes, shelling, burning, landmines and unexploded ordnance.

 

Twenty years of UN resolutions – and the Rohingya still wait. The international community has grown more effective at pursuing justice and worse at sustaining protection.

 

Citizenship and Genocide Cards: IDs, Statelessness and Rohingya Resistance in Myanmar.

 

Myanmar’s junta is losing: Don’t hand it impunity disguised as ‘peace’. 

 

Heavy firing across Myanmar border sparks fears of refugee influx into Bangladesh. Anxiety grips frontier communities as Thailand shuts border crossings amid escalating fighting in Myanmar. 

 

Nauru and Manus Island:

The Senate Inquiry into Australia’s offshore processing and resettlement arrangements handed down its report on Thursday. Its terms of reference were largely confined to the integrity of the financial arrangements for offshore processing and resettlement arrangements with contractors and other third parties. The Committee recommended that the Department of Home Affairs strengthen integrity and due diligence measures and consider making more information publicly available. The Committee also recommended that the government provide independent oversight of the contracts and develop a protocol for ‘the lawful and appropriate disclosure of law enforcement and intelligence information’.

 

The Greens’ dissenting report recommended stopping offshore processing and resettlement, as they are designed to punish refugees, and by their nature attract amoral institutions and corrupt dealing. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre criticised the report’s recommendations as not going far enough and called for a Royal Commission into Immigration Detention. 

 

‘Asylum seekers Australia sent to Nauru say they are going hungry’. There are about 100 asylum seekers in Nauru awaiting the determination of their claims. Asylum seekers receive a stipend of approximately $18 per day, funded by the Australian government through the Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Nauru. In interviews with the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre (ASRC), most asylum seekers reported that they could not buy enough food and were regularly skipping meals due to the cost of living in Nauru. A Home Affairs spokesperson said that the stipend was regularly reviewed and ‘designed to promote self-sufficiency’. 'Impossible': Nauru community detainees say Australian funds not enough to buy food with’.

 

‘Quiet change to Nauru's policing laws could impact NZYQ legal challenges’. Nauru has passed further laws regarding the use of ‘reasonable force’ to restrain, search and monitor Australian transferees. These powers were originally endowed to community monitoring officers (CMOs) and have now been extended to any person on the island. As of 4 June 2026, 12 people have been deported to Nauru. The ABC reported that ‘a further 37 people have been re-detained and are currently awaiting deportation to Nauru’. Several legal challenges are pending at the federal court regarding deportations to Nauru. Sanmati Verma, legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, noted that the CMO regime is highly relevant to these cases, which argue that removal to Nauru is unconstitutional as it involves a form of punishment. 

 

'Advocates urge Australia to save Iranian asylum seeker ‘left to suffer’ in PNG'. Refugee Action Coalition (RAC) advocates have drawn attention to the serious mental and physical ill health of asylum seekers and refugees in Papua New Guinea. There are reportedly 10-12 refugees who are suffering from ‘serious mental health’ conditions. Advocates are urging for their evacuation to Australia under the medevac legislation, which was passed and then repealed in 2019. The Australian government told RNZ Pacific last month that it 'does not have any role in the ongoing management for individuals remaining in PNG'. 

 

‘Refugees: Out of Sight (but not) Out of Mind – Australia's Offshore 'Processing'’. Yesterday marked 13 years since the 19 July 2013 ruling that anyone arriving by boat would never settle in Australia. Greens Senator David Shoebridge, HRLC associate legal director Laura John, and refugee activist Sister Jane Keogh will speak in an online forum this week to mark the date. 

 

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie used Parliamentary privilege to expose threatening behaviour by staff employed to transfer and monitor the people who Australia has sent to Nauru. The Saturday Paper chronicled the various ways in which the government has sought to prevent information about the Nauru program from being made public.   

 

NEW ZEALAND:

Community sponsorship programme to be permanent. The permanent CORS programme will begin 1 July, with organisations able to apply to become approved community sponsors from that date. The introduction of the programme will be scaled, with 50 places available in the first year. From 1 July 2027, 200 people per year will be able to settle here through CORS.

 

New Zealand has exemptions and special conditions for refugees depending on the political mood and what country they're fleeing. NGOs say it's time for some consistency. 

 

Fixing our ad hoc, inconsistent refugee rules. Need for New Zealand to develop an emergency protection framework that would iron out the inconsistencies present now, where we treat refugees differently depending on where they come from and the politics of the day. … Associate Minister of Immigration Casey Costello announced the government would make the Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship Programme a permanent part of our refugee resettlement system, but that pathway doesn't increase our quota of 1500.

 

Refugees left out in the cold as doors slam shut. The achievements of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its current challenges in a tense geopolitical climate were discussed at an event at the University of Auckland on 26 June. Madiha Ali was quoted: “Small ripples make big waves.” ... “We need to have more complementary pathways (beyond the 1,500 quota), including an emergency pathway to residency when a crisis occurs, as we did for people from Ukraine and Afghanistan. There needs to be a principled framework [for making these selections] that’s fair for everyone, rather than just ‘picking and choosing’; it’s feasible, legally it can be done and we’ve done it before.” Madiha Ali believes countries like New Zealand, who have the capacity, are duty-bound to offer support in this time of global need.

 

Thailand:

UNHCR, Thailand MCO Annual Results Report 2025. 

Thailand made a landmark step toward positive change in refugee policy, marking the most significant shift in decades. The country continued to host around 80,000  Myanmar refugees in nine camps under a long-standing encampment policy, even as conflict and instability continued across the border, driving more people to seek safety in Thailand. Following years of sustained advocacy, further accelerated by a sharp decline in humanitarian funding, the Royal Thai Government made a substantial and positive shift in its refugee policy. A Cabinet resolution adopted during the year granted registered refugees in camps access to legal work, coming into effect on 1 October 2025. This marked a meaningful transition away from strict encampment towards greater inclusion and opened new pathways for refugees’ self-reliance.

Within months of its introduction, more than 3,000 refugees had left the camps for work. At the same time,  many remained hesitant, citing concerns over potential labour exploitation and the challenges of adapting to unfamiliar working conditions.

Despite these advances, the broader protection environment grew more complex. In urban areas, refugees and asylum-seekers remained at risk of arrest, detention and, in some cases, deportation amounting to refoulement. Conditions in detention deteriorated while more stringent bail requirements resulted in fewer releases and doubled the number of urban refugees and asylum-seekers in prolonged detention.

 

Refugees need to have control over their own destinies.

 

“Advancing Refugee Rights in Thailand: AAT Contributes to the UPR Cycle 4 Submission,”.

 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘂𝗺 (𝗧𝗠𝗥), 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 (𝗠𝗪𝗚), 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗴𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 (𝗖𝗥𝗦𝗣) 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼:

1. 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 through a meaningful consultation process involving the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, experts in international law, international organizations, and civil society organizations.

2️. 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, including an explicit non-refoulement provision consistent with Section 13 of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act B.E. 2565 (2022); individualized risk assessments prior to removal; the right to be informed of the reasons for deportation; access to interpretation and legal counsel; the right to appeal to a court or an independent body with suspensive effect in cases involving a risk of serious harm; proportionality assessments; specific protections for children and family unity; safeguards governing immigration detention; and time limits and review mechanisms for re-entry bans.

3️. 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗺 that makes determinations regarding the intent or good faith of foreign States and international organizations, and replace it with neutral and objective criteria based on reasonable timeframes and demonstrable progress in receiving individuals.

4️. 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱'𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, screening, deportation, and removal through the parliamentary legislative process. In particular, priority should be given to amending the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979), which is currently under consideration by the House of Representatives, rather than introducing fragmented subordinate legislation. A unified legal framework would promote consistency in implementation across all government agencies and reduce concerns regarding the selective application of the law.

 

Hong Kong refugee detained by Thai authorities, fate unknown. Lawyers representing Zhang Xinyan, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and UN-recognised refugee, has not been able to reach her since she was detained by the Thai authorities on 8 July. Zhang was about to board a flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport to Canada, where she was to resettle, when she was stopped by Thai officials, told that she must cancel her travel plans, and took her back to the Suan Phlu Immigration Centre. Her lawyers were informed of her detention on 9 July. They have not been able to contact her or visit her since, raising concerns that she has already been deported.

 

Thailand Hosts First ASEAN-Myanmar Diplomatic Meeting Since 2021 Coup to Revive Regional Engagement. Thailand is bringing ASEAN foreign ministers together with Myanmar’s top diplomat in Bangkok for the first in-person engagement of its kind since the 2021 military coup, with the meeting focused on advancing the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus and supporting regional stability.

 

Pakistan:

Mass Detention and Forced Returns of Afghans Amid Escalating Crackdown. Under the ‘Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan,’ hundreds of thousands of Afghan nationals have been rounded up in raids and subjected to detention and summary deportation. Refugees and asylum seekers are held in a variety of sites across the country–including so-called Haji Camps, police stations, and district jails–before their forced removal to Afghanistan. Read more.

 

Pakistan said on 1 July it shot down four drones launched from Afghanistan, hours after Kabul claimed strikes on purported Islamic State targets in Pakistan. The two neighbours have been engaged in a cycle of cross-border retaliation since October 2025, including Pakistan’s 29 June strikes in Afghanistan, which Islamabad said killed 25 fighters but the Taliban said killed 36 civilians. Each country accuses the other of harbouring armed insurgent groups. Pakistani officials told Al Jazeera they would pursue “controlled escalation” in response to rebel attacks.

 

Pakistan to Begin Deportation of Around 20,000 Afghans From Peshawar. Authorities in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province have completed preparations for a phased deportation operation targeting Afghan nationals without valid legal documents or with expired residency permits.

 

Pakistan repatriates 525 Afghan families from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa refugee camps. Pakistani police have detained 13 Afghan doctors and one Afghan medical student in Punjab’s Multan city and transferred them to a deportation center, despite the group saying their visa applications have remained pending for nearly a year.

 

147 Afghan Refugees Released From Pakistani Prisons. Those released had been detained by Pakistani police because they lacked legal residency documents. The group included families as well as individual returnees. The ministry said 125 people re-entered Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing, while 22 others returned via Spin Boldak.

 

13 Afghan Doctors, Medical Student Detained in Pakistan.

 

Other news:

UNHCR said that the ‘spread of misinformation, hate speech and deepfakes’ is causing real-world harm to refugees and humanitarian workers, and highlighted the potential of AI both to accelerate this trend and to become part of the solution. 
 

U.K.: Pass Genocide Determination Bill. New law would empower survivors, strengthen atrocity prevention, and help end government inaction. The U.K. Parliament should pass the Genocide Determination Bill, which would create a formal legal pathway for British courts to make preliminary determinations on genocide or the serious risk of genocide abroad, Fortify Rights said today. The House of Lords is scheduled to hold the bill’s Second Reading on July 17.

 

UNHCR highlighted how artificial intelligence (AI) can help humanitarian teams to support displaced populations, through advanced analysis to enable earlier risk identification, improved planning, faster responses and more efficient resource utilisation. 

 

The US Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship through an executive order removing the entitlement for children born in the US to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily. Trump issued the executive order in January 2025, but it had not yet taken effect due to multiple legal challenges in lower courts, leading the administration to appeal to the Supreme Court.  

 

From UN intern to Refugee Chief: Ghana’s Edem Wosornu lands top Global Protection Role. Ghanaian humanitarian leader Edem Wosornu has been appointed Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 

 

US resettlement remains frozen, but not for white South Africans. The United States refugee admissions programme remains suspended, leaving thousands of previously approved refugees in limbo. However, the country continues to admit Afrikaners from South Africa through a separate pathway. Experts say the move departs from established humanitarian resettlement norms and is weakening an already strained global system.

 

Reports & Publications

‘“A Ripple Effect of Suffering”: Children and Young People’s Experiences of Parental Immigration Detention and Deportation’. A new report by the University of Sydney and the Australian Human Rights Commission highlights the impacts on children and young people when their parents and caregivers are placed in immigration detention or deported. The report centres the voices and perspectives of children and young people 'growing up in the shadow of Australia’s immigration detention and deportation systems’. The report found children and young people experiencing severe emotional and financial distress as a result of parental detention or deportation, who were often facing food poverty and housing insecurity, their lives upended as they faced choices of relocation or separation. Children and young people self-reported feelings of sadness, abandonment, shame, disconnection and anger. The report documents that Australia’s immigration detention and deportation laws and policies 'inflict profound and unnecessary harm not only on the people directly targeted, but also on their families and children' and called for urgent reform. 

 

Cathryn Costello, ‘Effective asylum systems depend upon design’, Law Society Gazette Ireland.

 

UNHCR’s future is at risk – and so is its past, by Jane McAdam and Maja Janmyr. 

 

UNHCR, IMO and ICS unveil revised rescue guide to strengthen protection for refugees and migrants in distress at sea. 

Building on the 2015 edition, the newly revised Rescue Guide provides more detailed guidance on applicable legal standards and practical procedures to ensure the prompt rescue and disembarkation of people in distress at sea in locations where they would not be exposed to risks, including the risk of refoulement. Available in six languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish), the Rescue Guide serves as a global, practical resource for shipmasters, ship owners, State authorities, insurance companies, and all actors engaged in maritime rescue operations.

• See also No. 48: Criminalisation and constraint of humanitarian action at sea / PPLA/2026/03
• UNHCR Asia and the Pacific - Mapping the Regulatory Landscape for Financial Inclusion of Refugees and Asylum-seekers. 

 

ADSP Briefing Note: Exploring Intra-Regional Complementary Pathways for Refugees in South and Southeast Asia.

 

Externalisation: New Report from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. - makes clear the link between externalisation measures and immigration detention.

"[D]etention lies at the heart of–and is an inexorable result of— externalisation schemes. Not only are these schemes systematically violating the fundamental human rights of migrants and asylum seekers across the globe, but they are also resulting in the dramatic expansion of harmful detention practices, often in countries that hitherto have not employed detention as an immigration tool."

 

WHO, Health in immigration detention: evidence brief for policy and practice.

 

“Health in Immigration Detention and Alternatives to Detention,” J. Bartovic et al, in: Intersections of Sexual Health, Migration and Sexualised Violence, V. Padovese and I Rossoni (eds.).

 

“The Impact of Immigration Detention on Mental Health: An Updated Systematic Review,” R. K. Saifeldeen et al, BMC Psychiatry.

 

Yuyun Wahyuningrum, Lowy Institute, Southeast Asia can share refugee responsibility – without a common regime. ASEAN won’t build a regional refugee framework but a flexible approach is feasible and overdue.

 

WorldVision, In the Shadow of Hunger: The Power of Self-Reliance in Protecting Children and Restoring Hope.

 

Public attitudes towards refugees remain stable, according to Ipsos’ latest global survey in partnership with UNHCR. Two-thirds of respondents agreed that people should be able to take refuge to escape war or persecution, while almost half support closing borders to refugees entirely. The findings suggest that support for refugee protection can coexist with concerns about how the system operates. 

You are invited to register for the 2026 Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week (RHPW), taking place 8–10 December 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand (in-person at the Rembrandt Hotel).

This year's theme is Shaping Humanitarian Futures: Breaking Barriers, Deepening Solidarity, and Scaling Local Sovereignty in Asia and the Pacific. RHPW 2026 will bring together NGOs, UN agencies, donor governments, and local actors from across the region to move beyond discussion and towards a more equitable, locally-led humanitarian system.

Discussions will be organised around three pillars:

1. A Changing Landscape: navigating shifting geopolitics, resource constraints, and new operational realities.
2. The Climate-Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus: scaling up anticipatory action, local adaptation, and direct-to-local financing.
3. Shifting Power, Shaping Futures: ensuring local actors, women, youth, and marginalised groups genuinely lead responses.

Learn more about the event, fees, and registration: Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week (RHPW) Asia and the Pacific 2026

Deadline: December 08, 2026 12:00 AM +07 | Bangkok, Thailand 

Two ways to register:

1- Submit an expression of interest to host sessions.

2- or register as an individual participant.

 

 

Why join

RHPW is a key opportunity to bring your perspectives directly into regional policy dialogue, connect with peer NGOs and donors, and help shape the direction of humanitarian action in Asia and the Pacific.

Notes:

• A registration fee of USD 30 (covering processing and bank charges) applies for the full three days.
• Registration is an initial expression of interest, not a guaranteed place. Confirmation depends on verification and receipt of the fee.

For questions about registration or ICVA's engagement at RHPW 2026, please contact cyra.bullecer@icvanetwork.org

Read the Concept Note

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24th Informal Seminar on Human Rights (ASEMHRS24): “The Future of Human Rights – From Local to Global” 

Location: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 

Dates: 12–14 October 2026 

Application Deadline: Monday, 31 August 2026

TARGET AUDIENCE

The Seminar is designed for diverse stakeholders from across Asia and Europe. It particularly targets:

• Government representatives (particularly those engaged in human rights policy and implementation)
• National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and ombuds institutions
• Civil society organisations and human rights practitioners (including youth organisations working on human rights)
• Academics, researchers, and legal experts
• International and regional organisations engaged in human rights
   

 

For selected participants, accommodation and meals will be covered. For selected civil society representatives, economy-class airfare to and from Ulaanbaatar will also be covered, subject to a reimbursement ceiling.

 

The Seminar will be followed by a capacity-building training programme (15–16 October 2026), open to selected Seminar participants.

 

Further information and the application form are available here.

Concept Note

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UNHCR is launching a global dialogue built around 10 core actions to turn commitments into practice - bringing together voices to shape stronger support for refugees. See the invitation to organise local and regional dialogue and share the main points attached. 

 

Funding opportunities

Australia Awards Fellowships aim to build networks of influence and leadership by strengthening partnerships between Australian organisations and partner organisations in the region. Australian organisations can apply for funding (up to AUD $34,500 per Fellow) to host and support a range of professional development activities, including: work attachment; supervised research; a management or leadership course; a study tour; program meetings and visits, or a combination of these.

 

CFPs: Women's Scholarship for International Students 2026

Donor: educations.com

Grant Type: Scholarship

Grant Size: $1000 to $10,000

Countries/Regions: All Countries

Area: Students, Women and Girls, Women & Gender

Applicants are now invited to submit applications for the Women's Scholarship to award female students at all higher study levels.

Deadline: Aug 28, 2026

 

Shadowing Programme for Young Theatre Professionals from Abroad

Donor: Goethe-Institut

Grant Size: $1000 to $10,000

Countries/Regions: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, East Timor (Timor-Leste), Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam,

Area: Arts & Culture, Theatre, Artists, Youth & Adolescents

The Shadowing Programme has launched its applications to support international artists within the field of Performing Arts an internship for a stay in Germany at a theatre or production house.

Deadline: Dec 31, 2026

 

GCSP Prize for Innovation 2026

Grant Size: $10,000 to $100,000

Countries/Regions: All Countries

Area: Individuals, Innovation, Peace & Conflict Resolution, Research

The GCSP Prize for Innovation celebrates outstanding and innovative contributions across disciplines to support impactful solutions in global security and peace.

Deadline: Sep 23, 2026

 

Reckitt Catalyst Accelerator Program 2026-2027

Seeks to support women and underrepresented founders developing innovative solutions that improve access to health and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in India. Countries/Regions: India, Indonesia, Pakistan

Deadline: Dec 31, 2026

 

The Harry Frank Guggenheim Distinguished Scholar Awards (formerly the Harry Frank Guggenheim Research Grants.

The Foundation welcomes proposals from any of the natural and social sciences and allied disciplines that promise to increase understanding of the causes, manifestations, and control of violence and aggression. Highest priority is given to research that addresses urgent, present-day problems of violence—what produces it, how it operates, and what prevents or reduces it. 

The Foundation supports research that investigates the basic mechanisms in the production of violence, but primacy is given to proposals that make a compelling case for the relevance of potential findings for policies intended to reduce these ills. Likewise, historical research is considered to the extent that it is relevant to a current situation of violence. Examinations of the effects of violence are welcome insofar as a strong case is made that these outcomes may serve, in turn, as causes of future violence.

Most awards fall within the range of $15,000 and $75,000 per year for periods of one or two years. The application process will open on July 1, 2026. The first component of the process is a Letter of Interest (LOI) questionnaire, which must be completed online and submitted by July 31, 2026 at 11:59.00 p.m. ET. Approved applicants will be invited to submit a full application, which is due by September 11, 2026 at 11:59.00 p.m. ET. Letters of Reference will also be due by September 11, 2026 at 11:59.00 p.m. ET. Late submissions will not be reviewed.

 

European Commission (EC), Human Rights and Democracy Programme (Mongolia) to promote respect for human rights and support more inclusive, open and resilient societies (including awareness-raising, advocacy, public dialogue, stakeholder cooperation, networking among civil society organisations, digital transformation initiatives, youth participation, and the mainstreaming of gender equality).

Deadline Date: September 30, 2026 

 

Global Impact Cash Grant Program – Cisco Foundation. Crisis response, education, economic empowerment, climate resilience; technology-enabled solutions. Up to USD $75,000 Rolling - Open to nonprofits and NGOs with national or multinational operations using technology innovatively to address critical social challenges. Process starts with a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) — only organizations that pass are invited to submit a full proposal. Healthcare, schools, scholarships, and events are not eligible. LOI review takes up to one business quarter.

 

Open in September: Commonwealth Foundation grants of up to £60,000 to civil society organisations to facilitate constructive engagement between civil society and decision-makers in an eligible Commonwealth Foundation Member State (Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), including civil society participation in policy development and implementation on JHealth Justice / Freedom of Expression / Climate Justice.  

 

University of Melbourne Human Rights Scholarship Program - Area: Human Rights, Research

The Human Rights Scholarship Program provides financial support to domestic and international students commencing graduate research degrees, with a focus on projects that contribute to the study and advancement of human rights.

Deadline: Oct 31, 2026     Grant Type: Scholarship    Countries/Regions: All Countries