Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN)

11/05/2026

IDAHOBIT 2026: More than a celebration, it's about visibility for those in the shadows.

APRRN member, APCOM is organising and hosting a panel at Siam Paragon to discuss the "invisible" struggles of LGBTQI+ refugees in Thailand. While often seen as a paradise, many in our community face detention and stigma without legal recognition.

Join us to ensure no one is left behind.

Date: Monday, 18 May 2026

Time: 14:00 - 15:30

Location: SCBX Next Stage (4th Floor, Siam Paragon)

The Panelists:

- Klaus Dik Nielsen (APRRN)

- Naiyana Thanawattho (Asylum Access Thailand)

- Saw Zin Maung Soe (Cicer) (CAN Myanmar)

- Moderated by Dr. Smith Boonchutima

Hope to see you there!

27/04/2026

What does immigration detention mean for women, girls and gender-diverse people? Too often, their experiences are missing from the conversation.

On 28 April 2026, join us for Women, Girls and Immigration Detention: Exploring Gender-Responsive Alternatives, an online event looking at the gendered impacts of detention and the case for practical, rights-based alternatives.

Drawing on the new IDC and UN Women joint policy brief, this discussion will explore the gendered harms detention can cause, including family separation, mental health impacts, barriers to healthcare, and heightened risks of violence and discrimination.

We’ll also look at what gender-responsive migration governance can look like in practice and share promising approaches grounded in rights, dignity and community-based alternatives.

Join Carolina Gottardo, Hannah Jambunathan and other leading voices for a critical conversation on gender-responsive, rights-based alternatives to detention.

- Featuring findings from the new IDC/UN Women joint policy brief on gender and immigration detention.

🗓 28 April 2026

🕤 9am EDT | Online

🔗 Register now: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/_o1Jzf7YS0uBY2wvoAdNSA #/registration

Co-sponsored by International Detention Coalition, UN Women, OHCHR Migration Unit, Women in Migration Network, Gender + Migration Hub, the Government of Colombia, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.

21/04/2026

Monthly Newsletter (March 2026)

Our News Briefs bring you the latest highlights from the advocacy efforts of APRRN and our members, as well as keeping you informed on upcoming events and activities. We strive to provide regular updates on the network’s activities and developments in the refugee protection sphere, alongside the emerging political climate in the Asia Pacific region.

Read Here: https://www.aprrn.org/newsletter-detail/70

18/04/2026

On 27 March, APRRN's Co-Secretary General, Klaus Dik Nielsen participated in the opening of the Asia Pacific Launch of the GCENR Legal Atlas on Gender Discriminatory Nationality Laws, which was co-hosted by Subin Mulmi, Executive Director of Nationality for All, and new Deputy Chair of APRRN’s South Asia Working Group and also on our International Board.
This innovative online tool maps and analyses gender-discriminatory nationality laws globally and highlights their impacts on women, children, and families. While significant progress has been made worldwide, some countries in Asia and the Pacific continue to maintain gender-discriminatory nationality provisions. Several UN agencies, regional academics and APRRN member and former APRRN SG, Chris Eades from Church World Service (CWS) took part.

https://legal-atlas.equalnationalityrights.org/

06/04/2026

Hafsar from APRRN attended this important conversation reflecting on multiculturalism, refugee protection, and Australia’s legacy of resettling more than 1 million refugees since World War II.

While recognising this important milestone, APRRN also welcomed the space to raise critical questions that still matter: Australia’s role at a time of shrinking humanitarian resources, its response to people seeking asylum including those impacted by Manus Island policies, what meaningful regional leadership looks like in Asia and the Pacific, and how processes such as the are contributing to responses to trafficking and smuggling.

At APRRN, we believe celebrating progress must go hand in hand with honest reflection on the gaps that remain. These conversations are necessary to strengthen policy and improve responses for , and communities affected by .

Thank you for creating space for this dialogue.

03/04/2026

On 26 March, our Co-Secretary General, Klaus Dik Nielsen took part in the 55th Anniversary of the Independence and National Day of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Bangkok. Invited by one of APRRN’s many external partners and allies, the Ambassador to Thailand, Faiyaz Murshid Kazi, Klaus and Midnight Poonkasetwattana, Executive Director of APCOM, and a new APRRN member, had exchanges with other diplomatic missions, representatives from UN agencies and Thai parliamentarians and policy-makers, including on Thailand’s recent positive steps to provide work rights for thousands of refugees and the possibility of adapting the model in other countries in our region.

01/04/2026

At , APRRN’s Co-Secretary General joined the SSI delegation to speak on women’s access to justice and the urgent need to include women from the most marginalised communities in global conversations.

Across the region, women from diverse backgrounds, including , , and + communities, continue to face serious barriers to justice under legal systems, social norms, and cultural or religious practices. Too often, their voices remain absent from the spaces where decisions are made.

At CSW70, APRRN was honoured to help bring some of those voices into the room, including through sharing the testimony of a Rohingya woman from Cox’s Bazar and highlighting our work supporting Afghan Women lawyers who are no longer allowed to practise under the Taliban.

We remain committed to creating more space for women with lived experience to speak for themselves, lead, and shape the decisions that affect their lives.

23/03/2026

Monthly Newsletter (February 2026)

Our News Briefs bring you the latest highlights from the advocacy efforts of APRRN and our members, as well as keeping you informed on upcoming events and activities. We strive to provide regular updates on the network’s activities and developments in the refugee protection sphere, alongside the emerging political climate in the Asia Pacific region.

Read Here: https://www.aprrn.org/newsletter-detail/69

13/03/2026

Consultancy Opportunity

📢 Consultancy Opportunity – Humanitarian Research

The Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN), in collaboration with the Centre for Civil Society and Democracy (CCSD) and partner networks including A4AP, APRRN, and the Somali NGO Consortium, is seeking a research consultant to develop a new Network Paper on Local Coordination Committees.

This research will examine how local coordination committees operate across different contexts, their governance structures, challenges, and their contribution to locally led humanitarian action.

As part of the research, the consultant will develop five country case studies and produce a 10,000–20,000 word research paper.

📅 Application deadline: 31 March 2026
💰 Consultancy budget: USD 5,000–7,000
🌍 Remote consultancy

The consultancy will be contracted and managed by the Centre for Civil Society and Democracy (CCSD) in collaboration with HPN and partner organisations.

🔗 To apply, please complete the application questionnaire:
https://forms.gle/3a2tc8RDyJkZaR9Q7

📄 Full details are available in the Terms of Reference (ToR).
https://www.ccsd.ngo/consultant-network-paper-on-local-coordination-committees/

Please share this opportunity with colleagues and researchers interested in humanitarian policy and locally led response.

11/03/2026

Our APRRN Co-Secretary-General, Hafsar, is speaking at this event and is currently attending CSW70. If you are in town, we warmly invite you to join the event—and do come say hello if you are also attending CSW70 in person.

We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to SSI for their generous support in making Hafsar’s in-person participation at CSW70 possible.