COMMON QUESTIONS
1. What are the aims of this research project?
This research project seeks to better understand the ways in which refugee-led initiatives contribute to refugee protection and solutions in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the barriers that they face. These refugee-led initiatives (RLIs) are broadly defined to include all refugee-led organisations, refugee community groups or other groups in the region that are led by persons who identify as refugees. For the purposes of this research, these RLIs do not need to be legally registered.
2. Who is conducting this research?
This research is being carried out by a research team supported by the Asia-Pacific Network of Refugees, Act for Peace, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney. The team includes professional researchers who have experience leading and working with RLIs in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as other specialists with a wide experience in refugee research.
3. When is this research being conducted?
This research is being conducted between October 2021 and April 2022. After April 2022, it may not be possible to include your input and experiences into the study.
4. Who can participate in this research?
We are looking to engage with individuals who are over 18 years of age and have current or previous experience engaging in the work of one or more refugee-led initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. We are conscious of the importance of engaging with a wide range of participants, especially from an age, gender and diversity perspective, and of engaging with individuals from all levels of seniority/hierarchy.
5. How would you like me to contribute to this research? What is the expected time commitment?
Participation in this research project involves answering the questions provided in the research survey. This survey will take between 5 to 30 minutes of your time.
6. If I participate in the research, how will my contributions be used?
The way in which your contribution will be treated will depend on whether you choose to be identified or not for this research project. You will be asked for your preference with regards to identification in the survey. The choice is entirely yours to make, and the researchers will respect your decision. If you choose not to be identified, your experiences will be treated with trust and confidence by the research team.
If you wish to be identified, the researchers will reference your name and affiliation if they make specific reference to your experience, opinions or contributions in the publication. This is to ensure that you are given proper credit for your contributions to the research, and to give visibility to your work if that is what you would like. There may, however, be risks associated with being identified in this way. Further information on potential risks is included below.
If you do not wish to be identified, unidentified quotations may be used in the research output, but your name and professional affiliation will be kept confidential. If you decide to take part and later change your mind about participating—or about whether you wish to be identified—you are free to withdraw or to request that your contributions be used differently at any stage before April 2022. After this date it may not be possible to withdraw as the results are expected to be finalised for publication.
Collected data will be kept on the research team’s password-locked Sharepoint drive for at least one year following publication of the research and will only be used for the stated purpose of the research.
7. What are the possible risks involved in participating in this research?
In many countries, RLIs and the people who engage with them face a range of risks, including risks associated with the legal status of the organisation and the legal status of people involved, and risks associated with the general hostility that refugees often face in many countries. A key objective of this research project is to better understand these barriers and challenges as a first step in seeking to overcome them, and this makes it additionally important that the research does not contribute to these risks.
Should you choose to be identified in the research output, there may be current or future risks that arise from publicly speaking on the record about your experiences. We encourage you to think carefully about these risks and speak to us should you have any questions. However, the researchers believe that you are best positioned to assess these risks, taking into account your personal circumstances and the contributions that you make to the research. We will contact you prior to publication of any results should we have concerns that your responses may give rise to additional risks. The researchers are not able to take responsibility or assume liability for your decision to be identified or for your responses provided.
8. Where will this research be published?
The research team has yet to make decisions as to where this research will be published, as we are keen to hear and learn from research participants first as to what types of publications they would like to see. With this objective in mind, we will advise all participants where we plan to publish this research at the time of sharing draft research outputs.
9. Can I review the research output before it is published?
Yes. In the survey, you will be asked if you would like to review and provide feedback to completed drafts of the research prior to it being publicly released. You will also be asked about the kinds of research outputs you think would be useful, including to increase the visibility of the RLIs that you are engaged with (if that is what you want).
If you indicate an interest in reviewing draft research outputs, you will be sent a copy of each completed draft and will have a period of at least two weeks to provide feedback to the researchers. This period of feedback will occur sometime after April 2022.
The researchers will consider feedback according to its potential implications for you. For analysis that personally identifies you, you will have the right to request revisions or deletion of the analysis that identifies you should you believe that it is either incorrect, not consistent with the desired meaning of your responses, or poses risk to yourself. For general analysis that does not personally identify you, the authors will consider your comments or suggestions in good faith, taking into account the feedback and responses of other respondents.
10.What happens if I choose not to take part in this research?
If you do not want to participate in the research, you do not have to. Your decision not to participate will not affect your relationship with the researchers, Act for Peace, the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney, or any other stakeholder known to us. Your decision not to participate will also be kept confidential.
If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you are free to withdraw from the project at any stage before 30 April 2022 (when results are expected to be finalised for publication).
11.Will this research examine all countries in the Asia-Pacific region?
At this stage, the research team has yet to make final decisions as to the specific geographical focus of this research and we are keen to receive responses to our survey from individuals anywhere in the Asia-Pacific region. We have taken this approach because we want to be guided by the interest and knowledge shared by the participants to this research survey. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that this research study will produce analysis of at least four country contexts in detail. These countries are likely to include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. These countries have been identified because they have all been affected by protracted displacement and because they all have active RLIs which have not yet been adequately studied. Additionally, these contexts present a mixture of urban and camp-based settings, and the research team itself has years of experience working and living in these contexts.
12.Will I be paid to complete the research survey?
Unfortunately, due to the unknown scale of this research survey we are not able to give you any money, vouchers or other gifts for the time involved in completing the research survey. However, we sincerely appreciate you taking part, and believe that there are other possible benefits to participating in this research survey. These benefits could include increased visibility and better understanding of the impact of RLIs in the Asia-Pacific region, and greater potential for future partnerships and collaboration.
13. Who is the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees?
The Asia-Pacific Network of Refugees is the only region-wide refugee-led network of refugee-led initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. Their vision is to build a regional network of initiatives led by refugees to bolster their ability to make meaningful contributions to decision-making processes.
14. Who is Act for Peace?
Act for Peace is the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia. It undertakes programs and advocacy on a wide range of domestic, regional and international issues, supports joint advocacy initiatives, seeks to mobilise supporters, and works closely with local partners to achieve meaningful change for persons in need of protection.
15. What should I do if I have further questions about my involvement in the research?
If you want any further information about this research or if you have any problems which may be related to your involvement in the project, please contact: tharley@actforpeace.org.au
This research project seeks to better understand the ways in which refugee-led initiatives contribute to refugee protection and solutions in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the barriers that they face. These refugee-led initiatives (RLIs) are broadly defined to include all refugee-led organisations, refugee community groups or other groups in the region that are led by persons who identify as refugees. For the purposes of this research, these RLIs do not need to be legally registered.
2. Who is conducting this research?
This research is being carried out by a research team supported by the Asia-Pacific Network of Refugees, Act for Peace, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney. The team includes professional researchers who have experience leading and working with RLIs in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as other specialists with a wide experience in refugee research.
3. When is this research being conducted?
This research is being conducted between October 2021 and April 2022. After April 2022, it may not be possible to include your input and experiences into the study.
4. Who can participate in this research?
We are looking to engage with individuals who are over 18 years of age and have current or previous experience engaging in the work of one or more refugee-led initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. We are conscious of the importance of engaging with a wide range of participants, especially from an age, gender and diversity perspective, and of engaging with individuals from all levels of seniority/hierarchy.
5. How would you like me to contribute to this research? What is the expected time commitment?
Participation in this research project involves answering the questions provided in the research survey. This survey will take between 5 to 30 minutes of your time.
6. If I participate in the research, how will my contributions be used?
The way in which your contribution will be treated will depend on whether you choose to be identified or not for this research project. You will be asked for your preference with regards to identification in the survey. The choice is entirely yours to make, and the researchers will respect your decision. If you choose not to be identified, your experiences will be treated with trust and confidence by the research team.
If you wish to be identified, the researchers will reference your name and affiliation if they make specific reference to your experience, opinions or contributions in the publication. This is to ensure that you are given proper credit for your contributions to the research, and to give visibility to your work if that is what you would like. There may, however, be risks associated with being identified in this way. Further information on potential risks is included below.
If you do not wish to be identified, unidentified quotations may be used in the research output, but your name and professional affiliation will be kept confidential. If you decide to take part and later change your mind about participating—or about whether you wish to be identified—you are free to withdraw or to request that your contributions be used differently at any stage before April 2022. After this date it may not be possible to withdraw as the results are expected to be finalised for publication.
Collected data will be kept on the research team’s password-locked Sharepoint drive for at least one year following publication of the research and will only be used for the stated purpose of the research.
7. What are the possible risks involved in participating in this research?
In many countries, RLIs and the people who engage with them face a range of risks, including risks associated with the legal status of the organisation and the legal status of people involved, and risks associated with the general hostility that refugees often face in many countries. A key objective of this research project is to better understand these barriers and challenges as a first step in seeking to overcome them, and this makes it additionally important that the research does not contribute to these risks.
Should you choose to be identified in the research output, there may be current or future risks that arise from publicly speaking on the record about your experiences. We encourage you to think carefully about these risks and speak to us should you have any questions. However, the researchers believe that you are best positioned to assess these risks, taking into account your personal circumstances and the contributions that you make to the research. We will contact you prior to publication of any results should we have concerns that your responses may give rise to additional risks. The researchers are not able to take responsibility or assume liability for your decision to be identified or for your responses provided.
8. Where will this research be published?
The research team has yet to make decisions as to where this research will be published, as we are keen to hear and learn from research participants first as to what types of publications they would like to see. With this objective in mind, we will advise all participants where we plan to publish this research at the time of sharing draft research outputs.
9. Can I review the research output before it is published?
Yes. In the survey, you will be asked if you would like to review and provide feedback to completed drafts of the research prior to it being publicly released. You will also be asked about the kinds of research outputs you think would be useful, including to increase the visibility of the RLIs that you are engaged with (if that is what you want).
If you indicate an interest in reviewing draft research outputs, you will be sent a copy of each completed draft and will have a period of at least two weeks to provide feedback to the researchers. This period of feedback will occur sometime after April 2022.
The researchers will consider feedback according to its potential implications for you. For analysis that personally identifies you, you will have the right to request revisions or deletion of the analysis that identifies you should you believe that it is either incorrect, not consistent with the desired meaning of your responses, or poses risk to yourself. For general analysis that does not personally identify you, the authors will consider your comments or suggestions in good faith, taking into account the feedback and responses of other respondents.
10.What happens if I choose not to take part in this research?
If you do not want to participate in the research, you do not have to. Your decision not to participate will not affect your relationship with the researchers, Act for Peace, the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney, or any other stakeholder known to us. Your decision not to participate will also be kept confidential.
If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you are free to withdraw from the project at any stage before 30 April 2022 (when results are expected to be finalised for publication).
11.Will this research examine all countries in the Asia-Pacific region?
At this stage, the research team has yet to make final decisions as to the specific geographical focus of this research and we are keen to receive responses to our survey from individuals anywhere in the Asia-Pacific region. We have taken this approach because we want to be guided by the interest and knowledge shared by the participants to this research survey. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that this research study will produce analysis of at least four country contexts in detail. These countries are likely to include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. These countries have been identified because they have all been affected by protracted displacement and because they all have active RLIs which have not yet been adequately studied. Additionally, these contexts present a mixture of urban and camp-based settings, and the research team itself has years of experience working and living in these contexts.
12.Will I be paid to complete the research survey?
Unfortunately, due to the unknown scale of this research survey we are not able to give you any money, vouchers or other gifts for the time involved in completing the research survey. However, we sincerely appreciate you taking part, and believe that there are other possible benefits to participating in this research survey. These benefits could include increased visibility and better understanding of the impact of RLIs in the Asia-Pacific region, and greater potential for future partnerships and collaboration.
13. Who is the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees?
The Asia-Pacific Network of Refugees is the only region-wide refugee-led network of refugee-led initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. Their vision is to build a regional network of initiatives led by refugees to bolster their ability to make meaningful contributions to decision-making processes.
14. Who is Act for Peace?
Act for Peace is the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia. It undertakes programs and advocacy on a wide range of domestic, regional and international issues, supports joint advocacy initiatives, seeks to mobilise supporters, and works closely with local partners to achieve meaningful change for persons in need of protection.
15. What should I do if I have further questions about my involvement in the research?
If you want any further information about this research or if you have any problems which may be related to your involvement in the project, please contact: tharley@actforpeace.org.au