APCOM announces its membership in the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), a leading regional coalition working to protect and promote the human rights of refugees and all people on the move. APRRN brings together civil society organisations, activists, and advocates across Asia and the Pacific to advance rightsbased, people-centred responses for asylum seekers, trafficked persons, internally displaced persons (IDPs), stateless persons, migrants in vulnerable situations, and returnees. Through crosscultural collaboration and coordinated regional action, APRRN mobilises collective momentum to ensure that displaced communities can access safety, dignity, and equitable social and economic inclusion.
L-R: Midnight (APCOM Executive Director), Hafsar Tameesuddin (APRRN Co-Secretary General), Klaus Dik Nielsen (APRRN Co-Secretary General), Hayat Akbari (APRRN Chair)
“We are delighted to welcome APCOM to our network, and we look forward to working with APCOM and drawing on their expertise in our efforts to promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ refugees – who are among the most vulnerable people and are confronted with significant barriers when seeking to enjoy their human rights, and access to opportunities and services. In many countries in our region, LGBTQI+ refugees continue to face severe discrimination, persecution, and often suffer from social and institutional violence in their home countries – further exacerbated when they flee to other countries for protection, both in countries of transit and in host countries,”
commented Hafsar Tameesuddin and Klaus Dik Nielsen, Co-Secretaries General, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN).
APCOM’s membership in APRRN is a significant step in strengthening and advancing the health, rights, and wellbeing of key populations and LGBTQI+ communities, particularly those whose lives are disrupted by armed conflict, political instability, and forced displacement. Across Asia and the Pacific, ongoing border tensions and internal conflicts continue to drive involuntary migration. For LGBTQI+ people and key populations, including people living with HIV, sex workers, people who use drugs, and young people, displacement compounds existing stigma, discrimination, and criminalisation.
These intersecting vulnerabilities often result in severely restricted access to essential, rights-based services, including sexual health services, HIV prevention, STI and HIV testing, and uninterrupted HIV treatment. For many, crossing a border means losing access to lifesaving medication, community support systems, and safe spaces. APCOM’s engagement with APRRN strengthens its ability to advocate for inclusive humanitarian responses that recognise these layered risks and ensure that no one is left behind.
“Conflict and displacement intensify the inequalities they already face,”
said Midnight Poonkasetwattana, APCOM Executive Director.
“Our membership in APRRN allows us to stand alongside regional partners to ensure that LGBTQI+ people and key populations on the move are visible, protected, and able to access the services and dignity they deserve.”
APCOM’s membership in APRRN reinforces its longstanding commitment to community-led, rights-based responses across the region. By joining this network, APCOM expands its ability to advocate for displaced LGBTQI+ people and key populations whose needs are often overlooked in humanitarian settings, ensuring that HIV responses and refugee protection efforts are not treated as separate issues but as deeply interconnected priorities.
