I decided to apply for this LLM due to its focus on international human rights law and the placement opportunity. At the time of application, I was not sure if I would like to go to Malaysia. I was there with my family for a while about 20 years ago which was a bittersweet memory. Given that I am Japanese, I was neither very excited about going to Asia nor expected a lot to learn from the opportunity. However, I couldn’t resist my passion to travel as well as intellectual curiosity to see what human rights work is actually like on the ground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I worked in a group of 4 students, including myself, with Asylum Access Malaysia (AAM), an NGO supporting refugee rights. I interviewed Rohingya refugee clients to write referrals to UNHCR Malaysia to help them with the Refugee Status Determination process. Based on the hands-on experiences, we developed an online training programme for new interns and volunteers at AAM. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was indeed challenging, and there was so much to learn. I was exposed to the vulnerable for the first time, and it was far beyond my anticipation. I was lost for words when a refugee client repeatedly begged for help at the end of an interview. She told me that she had waited too long. I can still vividly recall her saying ‘help’ and the silent moment as I searched for the right words to respond in a professional yet sympathetic manner. It made me confront my own fragility and na\u00efvet\u00e9. I also saw the reality that I usually see only through the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt and still feel helpless, but now whenever I hear and see ‘Rohingya’, it is not somebody else’s story. The helplessness is the driving force in the pursuit of my career. With a sense of responsibility and commitment, I aspire to be a cause for a positive impact and change in the field of human rights. It was an extraordinary experience to see the gap between what I know and what is happening in reality, from which I learned a lot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I decided to apply for this LLM due to its focus on international human rights law and the placement opportunity. At the time of application, I was not sure if I would like to go to Malaysia. I was there with my family for a while about 20 years ago which was a bittersweet memory. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[900,665,8,711],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-centre-for-applied-human-rights","category-pgt","category-study","category-work-placement","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n