Researchers at risk need dedicated support

An article co-authored by SAR Europe Programme Manager Orla Duke for Research Europe.

Attacks on scholars, students, staff and higher education institutions are occurring with alarming and growing frequency.

Last November’s Free to Think 2020 report, published by Scholars at Risk (SAR), an international network working to protect scholars and promote academic freedom, documented 341 reported attacks in 58 countries and territories in the year to 31 August 2020. Of these, 124 resulted in death, disappearance or extreme violence—an increase on the previous reporting period.

Even before the pandemic, researchers in many countries faced threats to their lives, liberty or careers from state and non-state actors, including armed militant and extremist groups, police and military forces, government authorities, and within higher education itself. Academics from Brazil, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Yemen were especially likely to seek refuge in Europe.

Read more here.