Book Reviews

Abstract

The Protection of Refugees in Southeast Asia challenges the common trope that Southeast Asia is a region where States have ‘rejected’ international refugee law because few have signed the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Moretti argues that, nevertheless, a regional approach to refugee issues exists, an approach that is ‘somewhat specific’ to Southeast Asian States, whilst ‘largely grounded on international refugee law’ (p 20). He specifically challenges the widely accepted ‘rejection’ theory of Sara E Davies, as expressed in her 2008 book, Legitimising Rejection: International Refugee Law in Southeast Asia.1 He also challenges the broadly accepted view that Southeast Asia, in contrast to other regions, lacks a regional approach to refugee issues. The book focuses on the three main refugee-receiving States in Southeast Asia, namely Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It tackles the apparent paradox that these States have a historical record of hosting large numbers of refugees, and continue to do so, in (mainly) urban areas. Moretti argues that these three main non-signatory States have long recognized that refugees need international protection and have long provided some form of protection to those who need it, even if it does not fully correspond to the Refugee Convention (p 243). He also discusses refugee protection in Cambodia and the Philippines, which are signatories to the Refugee Convention.