Milestone workshop on refugee law in the Middle East and Asia

Posted on 28 July 2017

On July 24th and 25th, Martin Jones hosted a second workshop on refugee law in the Middle East and Asia as part of his ESRC / Global Challenges funded project on the Law of Asylum.

Las of Asylum workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (July 2017)

The workshop provided a first look at data on the legal environment and experiences of lawyers in refugee protection in Egypt, India, Malaysia and Hong Kong. The workshop also provided an opportunity for participants from the leading refugee legal aid organisations in each of these jurisdictions to discuss case selection for the next stage of the project: litigation of more than 80 cases on behalf of refugees in the four jurisdictions.

The Law of Asylum project is a two year research project that aims to change the way that refugee protection is conceived in many locations in the Middle East and Asia. In large parts of these regions, the law, legal professionals and legal processes are viewed as secondary to the more overtly political negotiation of protection space. The project seeks to explore the viability of legal strategies for refugee protection, both by identifying replicable successes as well as challenges facing legal professionals in these jurisdictions. The project uses a unique story based methodology to gather data, to ensure the voices of all participants (including refugees) are not lost, and to achieve impact. More information on the Law of Asylum project can be found on the project website.