Vitit Muntarbhorn - Böcker

The Status of Refugees in Asia surveys some of the key issues of law and policy affecting refugees in the Asian region. The movement and presence of refugees in different parts of the region is surveyed, and the general legal position - ranging from multilateral treaties to regional and national initiatives - evaluated. A selection of country profiles to illustrate the implementation of law and policy at the national level is provided, and the performance of three Asian countries which have acceded to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol is assessed: namely, China, Japan, and the Philippines. Attention is given to the five other countries which have not acceded to these instruments - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand - and current critical refugee problem areas such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka examined.The book concludes by examining current difficulties with state practice in the region and presents possible solutions and new directions for the future.

This volume constitutes a commentary on Article 34 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is part of the series, A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provides an article by article analysis of all substantive, organizational and procedural provisions of the CRC and its two Optional Protocols. For every article, a comparison with related human rights provisions is made, followed by an in-depth exploration of the nature and scope of State obligations deriving from that article. The series constitutes an essential tool for actors in the field of children’s rights, including academics, students, judges, grassroots workers, governmental, non- governmental and international officers. The series is sponsored by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office.

In Unity in Connectivity? Evolving Human Rights Mechanisms in the ASEAN Region, Vitit Muntarbhorn discusses developments concerning the growth of human rights institutions and processes in the regional space known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Several countries have now set up national human rights commissions.At the regional level, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights was established recently. This is complemented by a sectoral body dealing with women’s and children’s rights, and another body dealing with migrant workers. Vitit Muntarbhorn analyses these developments from the angle of key challenges facing the region, the need for more checks and balances, and prospects for more effective protection of human rights.This publication has been facilitated by the Ateneo Human Rights Centre of Ateneo de Manila University, the Philippines.

This book provides an innovative outlook of the various challenges of international law in the Asian region. Although Asian countries converge on certain issues related to international law, such as engagement with the United Nations, at times, there is a significant divergence, such as in the case of agricultural trade liberalisation.