Date of publication:

02/03/2026

Bangladesh

How do domestic laws and policies define "family"?

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Assessment by population
Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

The domestic laws and policies do not define ‘family’ for the purpose of family reunification of the asylum seekers or the refugees. The country is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, it has no established legal framework for the refugees or asylum seekers. Moreover, the existing laws and policies do not address the rights of family reunification of the refugees or asylum seekers at all.  

However, in practice, while processing the cases of the family reunification, the concerned stakeholders such as the sponsor, embassy and UNHCR consider the definition of ‘family’ provided by the legal framework of the receiving 3rd country for the purpose of family reunification and the definition varies from country to country.