Beyond Asylum: Refugee Policy in Practice and How Refugees Experience It

Post Date: Nov 6th, 2011 | Categories: Advocacy | COMMENT

Date: Saturday, 12 November 2011
Time: 9am – 6pm
Venue:  University of Hong Kong, Council Chambers

2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, a treaty that has saved hundreds of thousands of lives in its relatively short existence since World War II.  Over half of the world’s refugees are found in the Asia Pacific Region, yet few countries in the region have developed any law or policy to address refugee issues.
East Asia has the potential to lead positive developments in the field of refugee protection in the Asia Pacific region: Japan and Korea are amongst the few countries in Asia to sign on to the Refugee Convention, and although it is not yet a state-party of the Convention, Hong Kong has a strong civil society and rule of law that has led to several alternative systems to provide partial protection to refugees. The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) believes that East Asia has both the capacity and the responsibility to establish a better refugee protection system and to support other countries in Asia to adopt protection mechanisms.
This Symposium brings key actors from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau and Taiwan together to identify gaps and solutions, debate the key issues, and challenge misconceptions about the most vulnerable population in Asia: refugees.
The detailed programme can now be downloaded here: East Asia Symposium Programme

East Asia Symposium