The 16th Human Rights in Asia Conference - Connecting the Dots of Colonial Legacies to Modern Injustices

Don't miss your chance to join us for insightful talks on postcolonial injustices in Asia.

Despite that several decades have passed since the massive waves of decolonisation, the legacies of colonisation yet remain across Asia, leaving deep-seated imbalanced power structures and the marginalisation of certain ethnic, religious, or cultural groups. 

Four activists from Asia - Okinawa, Uyghur, Papua and Rohingya - report on current human rights issues of colonial origin and the frontline of activism. The panel discussion is expected to connect postcolonial theories and contemporary injustices in the region and discuss the role of human rights frameworks in achieving social justice.

Featured Speakers

Ms AI ABE from Okinawa, Japan.Ai is a human rights activist, researcher, and a writer based in Okinawa, Japan. She is a Visiting Researcher at the University of the Ryukyus and serves as secretariat of All Okinawa Council of Human Rights (AOCHR).

She has continuously documented and analysed Okinawan human rights issues from the perspective of international human rights law and reported them to the UN human rights bodies. She also provides technical support to human rights activists and civil society organisations in Okinawa to promote the use of international human rights law and the UN human rights system. Her research interest is in the right to self-determination of Okinawan people and she has written extensively to advocate the right.
Ai received her LL.M in International Human Rights Law with Distinction from the University of Essex in 2019.

Dr Tin Mar Oo from Rohingya, Myanmar. Mar Oo, a medical doctor and Rohingya feminist, has dedicated over a decade to initiatives concerning social cohesion, peacebuilding, women's empowerment, and protection in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Montana, her research focuses on analysing the consequences of land rights violations and environmental injustices against the Rohingya population. She holds a Master's degree in Public Health from the Australian National University and has studied Global Developmental and Environmental Challenges at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

She has worked for several NGOs and INGOs such as Center for Social Integrity, Women Peace Network, Altsean Burma, Mote Oo Education. She has been working with the International Rescue Committee as a protection lead for Rakhine and Chin and her organization "RAISA", Southeast Asian Rohingya Network has been actively engaged in transitional justice and youth empowerment efforts in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Ms Rode Wanimbo from West Papua. Rode, Chair of the Women's Department of the Evangelical Church of Indonesia, is a passionate advocate for the liberation of West Papua and the restoration of cultural heritage. She tirelessly speaks out for the rights of women and children affected by conflict between Indonesian forces and West Papuan independence fighters.

Rode initiated a women's group dedicated to decolonizing the Bible, aiming to empower Pacific women through reinterpretation of biblical texts. Through her "storytelling circles," she provides a platform for Indigenous women to share their experiences and emotions, addressing trauma resulting from displacement. Additionally, Rode collects oral testimonies to amplify their voices, even submitting joint reports to the UN on the issue of internally displaced persons in West Papua. She emphasizes the importance of preserving West Papuan culture and traditions, highlighting the destruction caused by colonialism.

Mrs Maira Aisaeva is an Activist, and Chair of the UK Uyghur Community since 2021. She also volunteers at London Uyghur School and is a member of the World Uyghur Congress. Her work focuses on lobbying and raising awareness on the mass atrocities concerning the Uyghur community. While participating in a variety of campaigns and demonstrations, she has been working on sharing experience with communities and organising cultural events for the Uyghur community.

Moderator: Professor Colin Samson, is based in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Essex. Over two decades, he has been working with the indigenous Innu peoples of the Labrador-Quebec peninsula.  In addition to several journal articles and book chapters on the Innu, his book on the effects of forced assimilation, A Way of Life that Does Not Exist: Canada and the Extinguishment of the Innu was published by Verso Press in 2003. In 2013 a sequel to these works was published, entitled A World You Do Not Know: Settler Societies, Indigenous Peoples and the Attack on Human Diversity (School of Advanced Studies Press).  Most recently, he teamed up with Carlos Gigoux and published Indigenous Peoples and Colonialism: Globval Perspectives (Polity Press, 2016), a work devoted to puncturing national vanities and situating indigenous peoples struggles with ongoing colonialism in global perspectives. 

Colin studied and taught at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Arizona, and the University of Wyoming. 

Reserve your spot now and be part of the conversation!

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On the 21 March 2024 we are also holding a film screening at our Colchester campus.