Regional Focus: Asia

News:

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's new Unified Screening Mechanism (USM) became operational on 3 March 2014 and as a result, UNHCR's office in Hong Kong has ceased its asylum screening procedures.  More information is available in this FAQ.  The Immigration Department does not yet appear to have a section devoted to protection claims on its English-language site, but it has posted some key documents including the "Notice to Persons Making a Non-Refoulement Claim."  See also the new Practice and Procedures materials on the Torture Claims Appeal Board site.

Publications:

Analysis: Critical Year Ahead for Afghanistan  (IRIN, March 2014) [text]

"Asylum Registration in China," Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, no. 46 (March 2014) [full-text]

Can’t Flee, Can’t Stay: Australia's Interception and Return of Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers (Human Rights Law Centre, March 2014) [text]

Lessons from Japan's Triple Disaster: Three Years On (UpFront Blog, March 2014) [text]

Rapid Review of DFID’s Humanitarian Response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines (Independent Commission for Aid Impact, March 2014) [text]

"Split Return: Transnational Household Strategies in Afghan Repatriation," International Migration, Early View, 14 March 2014 [open access]

Related post:
- Regional Focus: Asia (10 March 2014)

Tagged Publications.