Program · Advocacy & Research

Asia Pacific Summit of Refugees (APSOR)

The biannual summit connecting refugees and non-refugee stakeholders across the region — and the event where APNOR itself was founded.

Our founding event

104 representatives, 10 countries, one shared agenda

On 22 October 2018 in Bangkok, 104 refugee representatives from 10 host countries across Asia gathered for the first Asia Pacific Summit of Refugees — a follow-on from the Global Summit of Refugees held in Geneva that June. It was there that delegates recommended forming a standing regional network, and APNOR was born directly out of that recommendation.

Since then, APSOR has continued as APNOR's flagship biannual gathering — connecting refugees and non-refugee stakeholders including UNHCR, host governments, INGOs and donors to set shared priorities and drive collective action across the region.

Read the APSOR report

Asia Pacific Summit of Refugees plenary with local hubs joining online

How the summit runs

Hybrid by design

APSOR is built so that geography and travel budgets never decide who gets a voice — local hubs join in person where possible and remotely where they can't.

Delegate nominations

Each local hub nominates its own delegates — refugee leaders who carry that hub's priorities into the room, not APNOR's.

Plenary & working groups

A mix of full plenary sessions and smaller working groups, each tackling one theme from the Agenda for Change in depth.

Stakeholder dialogue

Sessions bring refugee delegates face to face with UNHCR, host governments, INGOs and donors — on equal footing, not as observers.

A published outcome document

Every summit closes with recommendations and resolutions, published and carried forward into APNOR's advocacy and programming.

Summit history

From founding summit to standing tradition

June 2018 · Geneva Global Summit of Refugees

The Global Summit of Refugees, held in Geneva, set the stage — bringing regional refugee representatives together and recommending regional-level summits as a follow-on.

22 October 2018 · First APSOR, Bangkok

104 refugee representatives from 10 host countries across Asia met in Bangkok. Delegates recommended establishing a standing regional network — the recommendation that founded APNOR.

Biannual gatherings since

APSOR has continued as a recurring, biannual summit — each edition returning to the Agenda for Change and tracking progress against past commitments.

A growing hybrid reach

As APNOR's local hub network has grown, so has APSOR's remote participation — more hubs joining online each cycle, without losing the intimacy of in-person plenary sessions.