The Philippines and the making of a refugee policy in the context of the Cold War (1948-1986)

The Philippines was first among the small number of countries in Asia that acceded to the Refugee Convention and Protocol. Its acceptance of refugees can be traced back to the American colonial period. It also considered providing permanent settlement for Jewish refugees prior to gaining its independence from the United States. However, its first international humanitarian engagement as a new republic was the case of the White Russians who fled Maoist China in the late 1940s. Following this, in the late 1970s, it accepted a larger population of refugees from Indochina who also fled due to communist threat. This thesis explores the evolution of Philippine approaches towards refugees, examining this within the context of the Cold War. It reveals the nation's contribution in relation to refugees through engagement in international affairs, especially with the United States, the United Nations, SEATO and ASEAN. The thesis demonstrates that the pressures of the Cold War prompted Filipino leaders to take humanitarian action and simultaneously provided the opportunity for the country to establish itself internationally.