Timor-Leste is located in Southeast Asia, occupying the eastern half of the island of Timor, and bounded to the west by the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara, with maritime borders along the Timor Sea to the south and the Ombai and Wetar Straits to the north . Timor-Leste acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol in 2003. Timor-Leste is neither a party to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, nor to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. In addition, in 2003, Timor-Leste also acceded to major international human rights instruments, notably the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the 1966 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The 2002 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of East Timor recognizes fundamental human rights, in particular those foreseen in international legal instruments, and makes a specific reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Asylum issues in Timor-Leste are governed by the 2017 Immigration and Asylum Act of 29 June 2021, UNHCR is unaware of any individuals who have benefitted or are currently benefitting from international protection provided by the Government of Timor-Leste under its national legal framework, namely the 2017 Act. Additionally, there are currently no available or published statistics regarding the number of stateless persons or internally displaced persons residing in Timor-Leste.