Dhaka: North South University (NSU) recently hosted the book and discussion of Displacement and Refugee Issues in South Asia: Uncovering the Contested Realities, an edited volume published by Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., one of the world’s leading academic publishers. The event convened scholars, students, and researchers to engage in critical dialogue on forced displacement, refugee governance, and humanitarian challenges in South Asia.
Edited by Bulbul Siddiqi, the volume examines displacement across Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka at a time when global forced displacement has reached unprecedented levels. According to the latest UNHCR data, more than 123 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide by the end of 2024, with the majority hosted in low- and middle-income countries. Situating South Asia at the centre of this global crisis, the book highlights the region’s dual role as both a major host of displaced populations and a significant source of forced migration.
Speaking at the event, editor Bulbul Siddiqi remarked, “This book seeks to foreground the lived realities of displaced populations in South Asia and to move the discussion beyond emergency responses. It emphasises dignity, social cohesion, and regional responsibility-sharing as essential components of sustainable displacement governance.”
The volume brings together interdisciplinary contributions addressing asylum and citizenship regimes, environmental displacement, media representations of refugees, the protracted Rohingya crisis, Afghan displacement shaped by decades of conflict, and the politics of refugee encampment as an increasingly dominant global practice.
Ms Parisa Shakur, Senior Lecturer at NSU and a contributing author, noted that there has been a steady decline in social cohesion between host communities and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, making long-term coexistence increasingly fragile.
Drawing on his personal experience as a Rohingya scholar, contributing author Kaisayr Husein emphasised the urgency of international engagement, “For the Rohingya, displacement is not temporary but structural. The root of the problem lies in Myanmar, and this reality must be acknowledged and acted upon.”
The discussion was enriched by insights from Mr Altaf Parvez, a noted researcher on refugee issues and South Asian politics, who served as the discussant. He observed that identity politics in the region further complicates refugee governance, noting that Bangladesh–Myanmar relations have increasingly been shaped by the Rohingya crisis and that the absence of a comprehensive refugee policy has intensified these challenges.
The session was chaired by Professor Abdul Hannan Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor of North South University, who underscored the global significance of the book’s contribution, “Refugee and displacement issues have become a global problem that demands collective action from global powers. This book will make an important contribution to understanding displacement and refugee issues in South Asia.”
The event reaffirmed NSU’s commitment to advancing rigorous scholarship on migration, displacement, and refugee studies, and provided a platform for informed dialogue on the complex political and humanitarian realities facing displaced populations in South Asia.
