Writing Refugee Law (in Asia and Middle East)

The states of Asia and the Middle East are frequently described as having rejected refugee law. However, in recent years, both state parties and non-state parties to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees have introduced provisions into domestic law guaranteeing the rights of refugees. In Asia, Cambodia, China, South Korea, and Taiwan have introduced new laws protecting refugees. There are also ongoing efforts in Indonesia, Nepal, and Thailand to introduce refugee related legislation. In the Middle East, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, there have been discussions around introducing domestic refugee legislation in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. The above-noted efforts at “writing refugee law” have been thus far unexamined in the literature. This project explores the doctrinal, procedural, normative and ontological issues raised by these recent efforts to write refugee law.

This project will be conducted in partnership with the Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights and the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (and its members).