Refugees in Asia

Asia currently hosts nearly three million refugees. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing brutal regimes in places like North Korea and Burma; others have been displaced by civil conflict in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and East Timor.

Refugees in Asia face particular challenges as many countries in the region, including Nepal, Thailand, India and Indonesia have not signed the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Other countries like China and Cambodia, while parties to the Convention have not passed national legislation to implement their international obligations on the national level.

Although, Asia is not currently a focus of the International Refugee Program we do continue to monitor developments and to respond to particular crises where appropriate.