MHR Student Works on Global Displacement Crises
Paul Olubayo is a second-year Master of Human Rights student. This summer, he interned with Refugees International in Washington DC conducting research and reports on a number of policies, as well as a summer-long project regarding global policies and initiatives to provide protection/assistance for individuals affected by displacement due to climate change. Paul provided us with the following reflections on his time with RI.
With the support of the University of Minnesota's Human Rights Program, I was able to spend this past summer interning in Washington DC with Refugees International (RI). RI is one of the World's leading organizations in advocating for the rights, protection, and assistance of refugees and displaced populations the world over.
I was extremely fortunate this summer, as I was able to conduct work that was both highly important and extremely diverse. During this internship, I was provided the opportunity to focus my work on a number of different issues relating to the global refugee and displacement crisis and RI provided me the freedom to select which areas of their work interested me the most and allow me to focus in on these issues. Furthermore, with so much media focus and attention befalling the United States Government's asylum laws and practices at the southern border, I was able to spend much of my time conducting research and writing reports which focused on a number of policies enacted over the summer months. Moreover, RI allowed me the freedom to write a blog post relating to the militarization of the US-Mexico Border and the dangers this presents to asylum seekers and refugees in the region.
Additionally, I was also provided the opportunity to take a more thematic a global perspective to displacement as I worked on a summer-long project delving into the global policies and initiatives which have been implemented in order to provide protection and assistance to those affected by climate change-induced displacement, for which there is presently no protection under international law. In conducting this work I was able to assist RI in designing a codified advocacy structure which they hope to utilize to better push governments and international organizations to act in a manner that both prevents this type of displacement and also protects those people who suffer due to the onset effects of climate change.
Spending the summer in DC was an amazing experience in itself. It was a great city to make connections with actors in the field and former Humphrey School Alumni and I am truly thankful for the opportunity to experience it. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to do this internship as I was able to gain firsthand experience of life at a world-class advocacy organization and as such, I feel all the more prepared to work in such an environment in the future. Moreover, this internship built upon a lot of what I have been studying in my Human Rights Masters Program, and the work I conducted and things I was able to learn fit right in line with my concentration of Human Rights Law and International Justice.
Ultimately, my experience at RI was an immensely thought-provoking one. This internship provided me with an in-depth view into the world of advocacy and from this I have been able to gain a deeper understanding of the way in which such pivotal human rights work is conducted.
Read the blog post Paul wrote for Refugees International.
