Bangladesh is not a state party to the 1951 Convention or its 1967 Protocol and does not have national legislation or policy framework on asylum, including formal procedures for granting and recognizing asylum status. Despite that, in practice, Bangladesh is hosting close to one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Rohingyas who arrived in the 1990s influx were jointly registered as refugees by the Government of Bangladesh and UNHCR and received documentation (Master Registration Card). The Rohingyas who arrived in Bangladesh in subsequent influxes were not registered by the Government of Bangladesh until the latest influx of August 2017.  Those previously unregistered and those who arrived in the influx of August 2017 were registered, in a joint registration exercise under the provisions of the 2018 UNHCR-Government of Bangladesh Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Exchange of Personal Data of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals/Refugees. The Government of Bangladesh identifies this group as Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) while UNHCR identifies them (like those who arrived previously) as refugees. Although refugees' legal status is not recognized in Bangladesh, the documentation issued to Rohingya refugees serves as documentary proof for accessing protection services and humanitarian aid within the refugee camps. 

In addition to Rohingya refugees, Bangladesh hosts a small number of non-Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers who predominantly live in urban areas. In the absence of national asylum legislation and an asylum mechanism, UNHCR can register these individuals and conducts Refugees Status Determination (RSD) under its mandate. The Government of Bangladesh does not register non-Rohingya asylum-seekers and refugees in Bangladesh. Those registered with UNHCR are issued with an individual asylum-certificate, and upon recognition, receive refugee ID cards. While the UNHCR issued documents do not confer any legal status for these asylum-seekers and refugees in Bangladesh, they may provide a degree of protection, particularly from arbitrary arrest and refoulement.