Key documents for the eighth ADFM meeting:
The eighth meeting of the Asia Dialogue on Forced Migration (ADFM) was held from 27-29 June 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The meeting comes after the 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok and the Bali Process Trafficking in Persons Working Group in Jakarta, held in the week prior. Our meeting was supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (KEMLU) and our Indonesian co-convenor, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. It provided an important opportunity for the exchange of ideas and new approaches as we strive for more effective, durable and dignified approaches to our shared forced migration challenges.
It also provided the opportunity, including through a special ASEAN reception, for the ADFM Secretariat and members to connect with ASEAN Permanent Representatives and the ASEAN sectoral bodies focussed on transnational crime, human rights, women and children. We discussed how ASEAN can step up its role in migration governance in the region, particularly in relation to refugees and migrants at risk.
The meeting focussed on:
- The future of regional governance of refugees and migrants at risk, including implementation of the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees, and the roles of ASEAN and the Bali Process and their ongoing collaboration;
- The future of regional practice in responding to the protection challenges of refugees and migrants at risk, particularly with regard to alternatives to the detention of children, trafficking in persons, and return and reintegration; and
- Coordinated responses to mass displacement in Myanmar and Bangladesh, including to the identified risks of trafficking in persons.
We were pleased to find a strong desire among ADFM members to meet the aspirations and objectives of the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration in the region. Indeed, there are already many ways in which our agencies, countries and regional forums are stepping up to the task, through advances in both governance and practice. And there’s more we can do. We will continue to find innovative ways to elevate the issues in regional institutions, and build on the good work in the region to strengthen the protection system for refugees and migrants at risk.
Mass displacement of the Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh, and the risks that displacement presents, continues to be a key challenge for the region. Despite the complexity, we were pleased to make some progress toward the region tackling that challenge in a coordinated way.
We developed concrete plans to respond to other significant protection issues in the region, including on good practice alternatives to child detention, prevention and countering trafficking in persons, and opportunities for work and livelihoods for refugees and migrants at risk.
Our ninth ADFM meeting, is likely to take place in February/March 2020.
