Protection of Refugees in the Non-Signatory States to the 1951 Refugee Convention: Bangladesh Case Study

The elements of refugee protection, whether in signatory or non-signatory states, indicate a holistic framework to ensure efficient and effective functioning of refugee governance across multiple levels of institutions, sectors, and actors. Protecting the most persecuted refugee communities in the world involves adopting fair, clear, and implementable laws that adhere to the principle of equality and non-discrimination, accountability to the law, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness, and procedural and legal transparency. The best practices in refugee protection integrate critical refugee needs with essential human rights elements, providing a basis for enhanced constitutionalism within diverse geographical settings. This article sheds light on both the institutional and legal structures of Bangladesh, concluding that, among other factors, refugees in non-signatory states to the 1951 Refugee Convention can find hope in the steady and progressive constitutionalism achievable through judicial interpretations to close the protection gap and fulfill respective Customary International Law (CIL) obligations, despite Bangladesh’s non-recognition of Rohingya as “refugees,” since this poses a significant road block to any sort of “steady and progressive constitutionalism” or “judicial interpretations.”