South Asia

Operational Environment and Strategy

India, Nepal and Sri Lanka offer asylum to a considerable number of refugees, although they are not signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention. UNHCR cooperates with the Governments of these countries, as well as with NGOs and other stakeholders, to protect, assist and find durable solutions to refugees and other people of concern, including internally displaced people (IDPs).
 
All three countries have seen a growing number of people seeking asylum, and this trend is likely to continue in 2015. In the absence of national asylum legislation, UNHCR conducts registration and refugee status determination (RSD), and facilitates the resettlement of vulnerable groups.

Sustainable livelihoods, reliable community-support networks, and access to specialized services for people with special needs, are some of the main challenges faced by refugees in the three countries. In India, poverty is a key challenge for the majority of refugees and asylum-seekers, who may face discrimination from local communities with little understanding of refugee issues. The quality of public health and education in Nepal’s camps has been adversely affected by the departure of skilled refugee workers, who were resettled.

While the three Governments have adopted various approaches to deal with the different refugee populations in their countries, UNHCR fills the gaps in terms of protection, assistance and durable solutions. It focuses on the most vulnerable.
 
Through stronger partnerships with the various Governments, UNHCR aims to enhance asylum space, including by: identifying opportunities for local integration; improving livelihoods for urban refugees; ensuring the smooth voluntary return of refugees from India to Sri Lanka, and possibly Myanmar; identifying other durable solutions for refugees from Bhutan; supporting a sustainable return for those internally displaced in Sri Lanka, something that is expected to be facilitated by access to land in the north; and ensuring the expeditious resettlement of vulnerable refugees, for whom voluntary return to their countries or local integration is not possible. 

Response and Implementation

In India, UNHCR will continue to build on the positive understanding it has with the Government regarding refugee issues. It will review opportunities to: incrementally provide direct refugee protection; share biometric data; run regular training sessions on RSD processes; and include particularly vulnerable refugees in government social welfare schemes. The Office will continue to expand its outreach to the Indian public and engage more prominently with new civil society actors, in order to increase refugee access to urban support mechanisms.

In Nepal, the Office will continue the resettlement of refugees from Bhutan and, in close cooperation with other concerned Governments, search for other durable solutions for families remaining in camps.

In Sri Lanka, UNHCR will enhance its capacity to conduct RSD and resettlement submissions, as the only durable solution available to refugees. It will seek access to all asylum-seekers and effective protection for them by the Government.