ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the protracted refugee situations in Asia. It also discusses the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, Burmese refugees along the ThaiBurma border, Rohingyas in Bangladesh, internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka, and Afghan refugees and IDPs all point to the difficulties of current situations of protracted displacement. The book includes the refugees produced by the Iraq war that started in 2003. Hannah Arendt's perspective on statelessness stands in radical contrast to the dominant current trend of trying to fit forced displacement discourse and practice into a universal human rights paradigm. According to this rights-based approach, the rights of the refugees have been abused and the most important work is to restore those rights. The United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) protection approach can be illustrated through an examination of UNHCR's strategy in dealing with the Lhotshampas, the Bhutanese in Nepal.
