Key documents for the ninth ADFM meeting:
The ninth meeting of the Asia Dialogue on Forced Migration (ADFM) was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 19-20 February 2020. The ADFM Secretariat was delighted to meet in Dhaka for the first time, and for the opportunity this provided to return to Cox’s Bazar before the meeting to follow up on its trafficking risk assessment.
The meeting offered an important and rare opportunity to exchange and devise new ideas and practical proposals to address our region’s shared forced migration challenges. The focus of the ninth ADFM meeting was on:
- Renewed support to the Governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar in responding to the Rohingya crisis, including supporting pursuit of safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation, and strategies to support the refugee and host communities;
- Future regional priorities for forced migration responses, including a proposal for analysis of progress of Bali Process initiatives since the 2016 Bali Declaration;
- Climate-induced displacement and its impact on vulnerable groups.
In response to the Rohingya displacement, we identified a number of proposals for action. These focused on building trust and confidence and advancing safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable repatriation, mitigating the risks of trafficking in persons, and responding to the short and medium term development needs of displaced and local populations in Cox’s Bazar and Rakhine State.
In addition to the displacement crisis, ADFM participants developed practical proposals for improving the region’s ability to respond to significant forced displacement and protection issues, including through: collating existing research and data on hotspots and risk scenarios for climate related displacement; and conducting an assessment of future regional priorities for forced migration responses, including analysis of progress of Bali Process initiatives since the 2016 Bali Declaration.
We are grateful to the Government of Bangladesh, the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), UNHCR and IOM for all of their help and support on the ground in arranging the Dhaka meeting and Cox’s Bazar visit, and particularly the Bangladesh Ministry of Home Affairs and IOM for co-hosting the ADFM Dinner on 19 February.
The ADFM was established to incubate ideas and new approaches to more effective, durable and dignified approaches to forced migration in the Asia-Pacific. It is co-convened by a Secretariat including the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the Institute for Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University, and Centre for Policy Development (CPD) in Australia The ADFM has met eight times since August 2015, in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
