Together with Prof. Dr. Paul Gready from the University of York, Assistant Prof. Dr. Rosario Figari-Layus has acquired a two-year project in the Gerda Henkel Foundation's “Forced Migration” program. Together with two postdoctoral researchers, they will work on the project “Activists in Exile in an Era of Mass Displacement: Universities as Sites of Protection and Supporters of Agency for Activists from Russia and Myanmar.”
The rise of populist and authoritarian governments across the globe has led to a dramatic increase in a particular form of forced migration, the flight of human rights defenders (HRDs – used here interchangeably with the term activists) into exile. Crackdowns on civil society in general, and HRDs in particular, are becoming commonplace. Relevant support infrastructures, such as the refugee legal framework and temporary relocation programs, provide responses that are fragmented, partial and ultimately inadequate. The result is that activists in exile risk being demobilized, while domestic civil society is decimated. This matters because these activists, and their organizations, are the foundation not only of resistance to repressive rule now but also of more democratic societies in the future. The project will explore the role of universities in providing formal and informal support to HRDs in exile, with a particular focus on exiled Russian activists at Charles University, Czech Republic, and exiled activists from Myanmar hosted by Mahidol University and partner universities in Thailand.