Coronavirus quarantine in Australia to Hong Kong’s bread line: life as one of Asia’s 4 million refugees

With the world’s refugee population doubling in the past eight years, the Asia-Pacific is now home to more than four million displaced people

In Hong Kong, some struggle to survive on a food budget of HK$1,200 a month; in Australia, a healthy family must live in a coronavirus quarantine station

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Published: 9:00am, 16 Feb 2020Updated: 9:39am, 16 Feb 2020

Asia is awash with refugees, put to flight by circumstances beyond their control and in desperate search of sanctuary. Impoverished, shunned by mainstream society and clutching at straws as they attempt to gain asylum, their plight has far-reaching ramifications and no quick-fix solutions.

According to the most up-to-date figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the world’s forcibly displaced population stands at a record high of more than 70 million – and more than 4 million are in the Asia-Pacific.

“The number of refugees has grown substantially, and particularly so in Asia with the massive flow of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh,” says Babar Baloch, the UNHCR’s spokesperson for the Asia-Pacific.

“Overall, the refugee population under the UNHCR’s mandate has doubled since 2012. What we are seeing in these figures is further confirmation of a longer-term rising trend in the number of people needing safety from war, conflict and persecution.”

Rohingya refugees at Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo: Reuters

Across Asia, few families’ lives have been subjected to quite such tortuous twists and turns as the Murugappans, Sri Lankan Tamils who are battling to gain asylum in Australia, but their case typifies the travails of many of the region’s refugees.