The failure of regional refugee protection and responsibility sharing: Policy neglect in the EU and ASEAN

Abstract

The concurrent refugee crises affecting the European Union (EU) and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) brought to the fore long-standing issues regarding regional cooperation on refugee protection and responsibility sharing. This article argues that these crises are a culmination of years of policy neglect. By comparing the EU and ASEAN, this article demonstrates the weaknesses of regional bodies in responding to refugee challenges, regardless of the level of institutionalization of refugee norms and practices. In both instances, procedural norms privileging member state interests and consensus have hindered the development of durable regional refugee policies.

Migration to Southeast Asia

“…There has been a tendency for some scholars and advocacy groups to overlook the messy histories and present-day political and social divisions and constraints within and among states (see, for example, Tubakovic, 2019). Instead, there is assumed to be a Southeast Asian collective mindset by virtue of their membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).…”

The Conflict, Climate Change, and Displacement Nexus Revisited: The Protracted Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Bangladesh

“…At the regional level, neither the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nor the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have adopted a framework for the regional governance of refugee movements and protection (Kneebone, 2014;Sharma, 2008). The nonrecognition of international refugee law and international instruments by the majority of Asian countries is rooted in the widespread perception that the Geneva Convention is an agreement grounded in Eurocentrism that was established to deal with the European refugee crisis following World War II, with little relevance to the experiences and challenges in the Asian region (Nethery & Loughnan, 2019;Tubakovic, 2019). The fact that none of the countries that have become host countries for the Rohingya refugee crisis has signed the Geneva Convention has adverse implications for the protection of Rohingya refugees.…”

“…This protracted refugee crisis has highlighted the lack of regional and national governance and protection mechanisms for refugees (Nethery & Loughnan, 2019; Sharma, 2008; Tubakovic, 2019). Although several countries in the region, e.g., Bangladesh and Pakistan, have hosted large refugee populations for many years, little progress has been made in establishing national legal frameworks for protecting asylum seekers and refugees (Ahmed et al, 2021; Tubakovic, 2019).…”

“…This protracted refugee crisis has highlighted the lack of regional and national governance and protection mechanisms for refugees (Nethery & Loughnan, 2019; Sharma, 2008; Tubakovic, 2019). Although several countries in the region, e.g., Bangladesh and Pakistan, have hosted large refugee populations for many years, little progress has been made in establishing national legal frameworks for protecting asylum seekers and refugees (Ahmed et al, 2021; Tubakovic, 2019). Although Bangladesh is a non-signatory of the 1951 Refugee Status Convention, the country has a constitutional and statutory legal obligation under national and international bodies of law to protect refugees, such as under the principle of non-refoulment (Jones, 2018).…”

Non-European Immigration, socio-economic benefits and dynamics of inclusion in Spain. Do immigrants consume a disproportionate share of Social Service benefits?

“…In Europe, these perceptions have become particularly entrenched in Mediterranean countries, which were more seriously affected by the Financial Crisis of 2008 (Ayala, 2010), largely shaped by the resulting economic model of that Crisis and its erosion of inclusivity (Laparra & Pérez-Eransus, 2012;Taylor-Gooby, Leruth, & Chung, 2017). The most relevant impacts with regard to the model of inclusion affect the precariousness of the labour market and a decline in the State' s capacity to act as a safety net (Martínez Virto & Sánchez Salmerón, 2019), factors that have led to a traumatically slow recovery, stagnation of wages, and mass unemployment among the young population (Papademetriou & Banulescu-Bogdan, 2016;Tubakovic, 2019).…”