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General Asylum or Refugee Status Procedure

BangladeshHumanitarian protection

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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Explore pathways in Bangladesh Read the five questions ↓

What exactly is this: asylum, temporary protection, humanitarian admission, resettlement or another protection mechanism?

Bangladesh has no national asylum law or procedure. It is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. In the absence of a national asylum mechanism, the 1946 Foreigners Act is described as the key legislation governing the status of refugees; a 2023 UN submission states that refugees still lacked "a national asylum system and formal recognition of their status in the country". Outside the separate joint government/UNHCR registration arrangement for Rohingya refugees, individual refugee status is determined by UNHCR under its own international mandate, not by a Bangladeshi government asylum procedure.

See recorded sources
  • UNHCR UPR30 submission, Section I. Background Information
    Bangladesh is not a State party to the 1951 Convention relating the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol (jointly referred to as the 1951 Convention), the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (the 1954 Convention), nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (the 1961 Convention). In the absence of a national asylum mechanism, the 1946 Foreigner’s Act remains the key legislation governing the status of refugees and other persons under UNHCR’s mandate.
  • UNCT UPR44 submission, "Refugees and Stateless people" section
    In the absence of a national asylum system and formal recognition of their status in the country, and as the government regards their stay as temporary, these refugees do not have freedom of movement, the right to work, or access to most public services.

Which population, circumstances or geographic group does the mechanism cover?

As of the 2018 UNHCR submission, this mandate-based process had recognised 76 refugees of various nationalities other than Rohingya (who are covered by the separate registration process); these 76 do not live in the refugee camps and are described as generally self-reliant. The figure dates from 2018; the official source does not state a current figure.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The count of 76 non-Rohingya mandate refugees is from a 2018 UNHCR submission; no more recent figure was found in this pass.
  • UNHCR UPR30 submission, Section I. Background Information
    Bangladesh is also host to 76 refugees of various nationalities who were recognised by UNHCR under its mandate, in the absence of a national asylum mechanism to determine refugee status. These refugees do not live in camps and are generally self-reliant.

Where can protection be requested, and is this a direct application, border/in-country request, referral or other process?

The UNHCR Representation in Bangladesh has a physical office in Dhaka (UN House, House No 1, 2nd floor, Road No.86/88, Gulshan 2), reachable by phone/email, and a public Helpline (16670, daily 8:00am-10:00pm) which UNHCR states is for "all questions, feedback or complaints, whether they are protection issues or humanitarian assistance programmes". The official sources do not describe a distinct walk-in counter, online form or appointment system specifically for non-Rohingya mandate refugee status determination.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The specific procedural mechanics of how a non-Rohingya asylum claim is actually submitted and processed once contact is made (as opposed to WHERE/how to reach UNHCR) are not described on any official UNHCR Bangladesh or global page found in this pass; the entire public-facing help.unhcr.org/bangladesh site is framed around the Cox’s Bazar/Bhasan Char Rohingya response, not a general asylum intake process.

What happens after the request: registration, family handling, major support and rights where officially stated?

The 2018 UNHCR submission states there is "no institutionalised approach for addressing the protection needs of asylum-seekers and refugees from other nationalities", giving the example of Syrian nationals being refused entry at Dhaka International Airport in 2016 and sent back under ordinary immigration rules rather than being allowed to seek asylum. The official source does not state what status or protections apply to a person while a claim is examined under UNHCR's mandate.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • This shows one instance of border refusal before any asylum process began; it does not describe what status or protections, if any, apply to a person once a claim is being examined under UNHCR's mandate.
  • UNHCR UPR30 submission, Section III, Issue 1
    there is no institutionalised approach for addressing the protection needs of asylum-seekers and refugees from other nationalities. For example, Syrian cases approaching Dhaka International Airport in 2016 were not allowed to enter and were sent back based on purely immigration rules.

Which competent authority, UN body or official assistance channel should the person use?

No Bangladeshi government agency is described as running this process. UNHCR performs the function (recognising refugee status under its own international mandate) in the absence of a national asylum mechanism; the 1946 Foreigners Act, not refugee-specific legislation, is the domestic law that otherwise governs the status of refugees and others under UNHCR's mandate.

See recorded sources
  • UNHCR UPR30 submission, Section I. Background Information
    Bangladesh is not a State party to the 1951 Convention relating the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol (jointly referred to as the 1951 Convention), the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (the 1954 Convention), nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (the 1961 Convention). In the absence of a national asylum mechanism, the 1946 Foreigner’s Act remains the key legislation governing the status of refugees and other persons under UNHCR’s mandate.
  • UNHCR UPR30 submission, Section I. Background Information
    Bangladesh is also host to 76 refugees of various nationalities who were recognised by UNHCR under its mandate, in the absence of a national asylum mechanism to determine refugee status. These refugees do not live in camps and are generally self-reliant.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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