Thank you for giving us the floor, moderator.

This is a civil society collective message. We are connected and have organized in this process and throughout Migration Week: we are unified in our diversity to ensure the Global Compact fosters real change for migrants and their families.

Bangkok, 22 November 2018, 07:00: On 21 November 2018, the Australian Government confirmed that they intend to withdraw from the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM). The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) strongly criticises this decision by Australia to shy away from this historic agreement.

The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) strongly condemns the acts of intensifying violence and terror being waged against Hazara populations across Afghanistan. Commencing in late October, Hazara communities in Khas Uruzgan, Jaghori and Malistan in Afghanistan’s Hazarajat region have faced a series of relentless attacks by the Taliban. These targeted assaults have left hundreds of individuals including women and children dead and thousands more forcibly displaced from their homes.

The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) strongly condemns the Indian Government’s recent decision to forcibly remove seven Rohingya refugees from India back to Myanmar. Occurring on 4 October 2018, the deportation followed an unsuccessful eleventh hour plea to the Supreme Court to halt the forcible return. Labeled incorrectly by the Indian Government as “illegal immigrants”, the seven men were handed over to Myanmar authorities at a border crossing in Manipur in northeast India.

The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) is deeply concerned about UNHCR’s recent decision to implement a policy to end refugee status of Chin refugees from Myanmar. This policy, announced by UNHCR on 13 June 2018 will affect approximately 30,140 Chin refugees currently residing in Malaysia and a further 3,000 living in India. This change, if implemented, may result in many people being unfairly stripped of their refugee status and potentially returned to a country where their life is in danger.