Advocacy Updates

AFGHANISTAN

• 14 January: The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) released an article which highlighted the current situation in Afghanistan and DRC’s collaborative work in response to the country’s crisis. Learn more about their full scope of work here.

AUSTRALIA

• 11 January: The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) released a statement on Novak Djokovic’s detention and the subsequent speedy appeal process that greatly contrasts with the ongoing and prolonged inhumane treatment of refugees in Australia’s migration system.

HONG KONG

• Justice Centre Hong Kong upgraded their HK Asylum Guide - a guide that takes the readers through the Unified Screening Mechanism (USM) process, including making a non-refoulement claim and appealing a negative decision. Their latest version offers additional language support, information on asylum appeals, and integration with case management systems.

INDONESIA

• 10 January: Sitarah Mohammadi (Deputy Chair of APRNN) and Sajjad Askary (Deputy Chair of APRRN’s Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Working Group) wrote an article for RCOA about the refugee situation in Indonesia. It highlighted the destitute state that the refugees are in due to the lack of access to durable solutions and the lack of safe pathways for relocation to a third country.

MYANMAR

• 14 January: FORUM-ASIA, along with several Indonesian-based organisations, released a joint statement to express their solidarity with the people in Myanmar and condemn the grave violations committed by the military junta that have led to more than a thousand deaths, tortures, hundreds of thousands being displaced, and detained. The statement also called on ASEAN and the international community to abide by its obligations to hold the perpetrators accountable and to protect the Myanmar people’s human rights.

Regional

• The Asia Displacement Solutions Platform (ADSP) published their newsletter for the December 2021 issue. The issues covered in the newsletter included: the Short Course on Advocacy with the Afghan Diaspora in which APRRN co-organised with ADSP, the media releases they published, regional contributions, and member publications.
   
• The International Detention Coalition published a paper of their strategic position on alternatives to detention (ATD) for civil society organisations, grassroots groups, and individuals working in advocacy, community organising, academia, law, research, policy and direct service provision, as well as representatives of communities directly impacted by immigration detention.

On the radar

• Fundraising opportunity: RUN Hong Kong is currently running a WiFA x RUN Virtual Fitness Challenge fundraising campaign to support vulnerable refugees to rebuild their mental and physical strength, unite across differences as a community, and nurture self-reliance for a more hopeful future.
   
• Call for participation: The upcoming Forced Migration Review issue focuses on questions of knowledge, voice, and power: In the field of forced migration, whose knowledge is valued and whose voices are heard? What needs to change in order to address significant power imbalances in representation in policy, practice and academia? Issue 70 will focus on how knowledge is produced, shared and received, and what changes can and should be made to help ensure that power is shared and more diverse voices are heard and valued. Please go here for the full call for articles, with questions to help guide you, plus submission requirements.
   
• Job opportunity: Borderless360 (B360) is seeking an energetic and dedicated person to support the B360 Inclusive Education Initiative (IEI) team to coordinate its Refugee General Educational Development (GED) programme and undertake other functions in support of the development of its Inclusive Education Initiative. Head over here for the full job description.
   
• Funding opportunity: The U.S Embassy in South Korea is calling for proposals for the 2022 Julia Taft Refugee Fund from potential partners working to assist refugees in South Korea. The Taft Fund, established in 2000, provides grants of up to USD $25,000 per country to national or local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for quick impact projects to meet currently unaddressed needs. The deadline to submit the proposals is 11 February. For more details, please go here.
   
• Funding opportunity: The U.S Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is calling for proposals for the 2022 Julia Taft Refugee Fund to address important gaps in protection and assistance for refugees and stateless persons. The Taft Fund, established in 2000, provides grants of up to USD $25,000 per country to national or local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for quick impact projects to meet currently unaddressed needs. The deadline to submit the proposals is 4 February. For more details, please go here.
   
• Funding opportunity: The Resourcing Refugee Leadership Initiative (RRLI) is providing funds for refugee-led organisations (RLOs) in Indonesia. RRLI is a coalition of refugee-led organisations which seek to resource RLOs to uplift communities and combat systematic refugee exclusion within refugee response. Applications close on 4 March. Learn more about the funding opportunity here.
   
• Charity: The Manushya Foundation is running a fundraising campaign for displaced people and refugees from Myanmar as a result of the violence perpetrated by the military in Kayah state in late December 2021. For more information, please go here.
   
• Funding opportunity: The Fund for Global Human Rights is now accepting submissions through their Legal Empowerment Fund from grassroots organisations providing legal empowerment work, for up to 24 months of general support. The deadline for the proposals is on 18 February. Learn more about it here.
   
• Development opportunity: Settlement Services International is currently calling for applicants with a refugee background to join their Refugee Employment Support Programme (RESP). RESP is available to people in western Sydney and the Illawarra who are underemployed or unemployed and require extra support. Any person who has arrived in Australia on a refugee visa from December 1, 2011, aged 16 to 66, is eligible for the programme. For the full description, please go here.

From the Secretariat

APRRN UPDATE

• APRRN is delighted to welcome our newest Secretariat staff member, Zaw Win, as our Programme Officer. As a Rohingya, Zaw Win has engaged and worked with several international human rights organisations and human rights protection programmes in Myanmar since 2016, and has contributed to coordinated efforts of transitional justice to respond to human rights violations. Despite growing up in a challenging environment with limited fundamental human rights, Zaw Win holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health and is currently completing a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Demoralisation at Mahidol University, Thailand. Zaw Win has worked with several INGOs to help communities affected by the 2008 Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. Since 2016, Zaw Win has shifted from working in the humanitarian assistance field to the human rights protection sector, with an aspiration to promote and increase awareness on human rights for marginalised and oppressed people. In this remit, Zaw Winfounded a local youth group, Together We Can, in Myanmar.At APRRN, Zaw Win is looking forward to contributing to coordinated interventions of the network. Having participated as a member of APRRN, Zaw Win is committed to the network’s vision, mission, and strategies that have made positive changes to the lives of refugees and other marginalised or forcibly displaced people and in turn strengthened sustainable development for the region.

Sparkraise campaign

For more than 13 years, APRRN has been a leader in the region, developing unique strategies and interventions that have directly advanced refugees’ socio-economic inclusion and equitable rights in a region facing severe human rights crises. APRRN plays a critical role in the civil society response to forced displacement, advocating for the rights of refugees through coordinated regional action to promote the implementation of refugee protective policy and legislation. Please support APRRN by contributing to our campaign, to ensure this crucial work continues unabated, while also enabling us to continue to respond to emerging crises in Afghanistan and Myanmar.