2023 Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme participants and ISHR staff in front of the UN building in Geneva ©Ben Buckland
Here at ISHR we are constantly being inspired by the brave people taking action to defend human rights and want to share some of their stories with you.
Moses Von Kallon is a human rights defender and the co-founder of Aquarius Supervivientes, a group that advocates for the rights of immigrants in Spain and supports their integration.
David Yambio is a community advocate and spokesperson at the NGO Refugees in Libya. His own experiences of forced exile inspired him to fight for the human rights and well-being of migrants and refugees on both sides of the Mediterranean.
"The rights of migrant workers is a global problem, and actors in different jurisdictions have to come together to make a difference in this particular area," says Barun Ghimire, a human rights lawyer based in Kathmandu, Nepal. "And we need to create a collective narrative that is based on a rights-based approach of migrant workers".
All human beings have the right to live with dignity, no matter whether they are documented or not. Meriem El May and Sofia Vegas both work for Permanence MNA/RMNA, a Geneva-based legal centre that protects young unaccompanied migrants.
ISHR was honoured to interview Abdul Aziz Muhamat, laureate of the 2019 Martin Ennals Award and migrants' rights defender who exposed the violations committed against migrants by Australian authorities on Nauru and Manus islands.
ISHR had the chance to meet with Cédric Herrou for the Geneva premiere of movie 'Libre' where director Michel Toesca follows him in his endeavours in France's Roya Valley. During our interview, Herrou, a migrant rights defender and president of association 'Défends Ta Citoyenneté', shared his testimony, challenges, aspirations and calls to action with ISHR.
'Our countries are restricting migrants' rights, and there is always something we can do to demand full protection of people', says Mariana Zaragoza in her interview with ISHR. Mariana works in the immigration programme at the Ibero-American University of Mexico and she advocates for migrants and refugees' rights.
"Migration is not a crime. Defending the rights of migrant people should not be criminalised," said Azadi (pseudonym) in her interview with ISHR. Today, more than 68 million people around the world are refugees or internally displaced as a result of conflict or persecution. They seek a safer life and better future. "Migrant rights defenders want to show people on the move that another Europe exists: it's the Europe of the civil society that tries to welcome them. The Europe of solidarity", Azadi concluded.
Ligia Bolivar, the director of the Human Rights Center at the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas, Venezuela, advocates for children's rights and provides legal assistance to students, focusing on freedoms of association, expression, and assembly.
Stephania Koulaeva, from ADC Memorial in Russia, battles government oppression and works on a broad range of discrimination issues. Despite facing political repression, her focus expands beyond national borders to include international advocacy for change.
