70.8million people worldwide are displaced annually, with a current rate of 26 people newly displaced every minute. Over the last decade, more than 24 million people have been displaced by climate related hazards on an annual basis. Despite these escalating problems, there are only a few well-established academic centres on refugee studies in the world and until now, none focussed primarily on the Asia-Pacific region.
Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies (CAPRS) is established in February 2020 as a faculty research centre within the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The Centre will be the first of its kind to open in the Asia Pacific region. Co-founded by Dr Gül İnanç of Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Associate Professor Jay Marlowe of the Faculty of Education and Social Work and Human rights lawyer and alumni of the University of Auckland, Rez Gardi, Centre aims to respond to these challenges through evidence-based scholarship and high-impact research to inform positive approaches to support people forcibly displaced by both climate change and conflict induced displacement. CLCC member, Opening Universities for Refugees, OUR will continue its activities under the newly established CAPRS.
