The continuing movement of people seeking safety within and beyond national borders in the Asia-Pacific region remains a serious problem.
Armed conflict, discrimination, various forms of harassment, and persecution are undeniable reasons for such movement of people. Such people face many obstacles in getting support from governments (their own or of other states).
A key issue is the availability of information about them, their suffering, their needs, and the threats against their life or limb.
Making such information available is a challenge particularly regarding people who fled their country in a rush and with secrecy. This situation puts them at risk of having their application for refugee status denied either by governments or by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.
For the internally displaced people, such information is vital in urging governments to act with dispatch in mobilizing resources to support their needs – security, food, housing, medical care and other services.
Groups monitoring the situation of refugees, asylum seekers, stateless people, and internally displaced persons play a vital role in this issue.