2022

Annual Report

Hadi Mohammadi

Scholar Story

Hadi Mohammadi

AFGHANISTAN | It was a terrible day when I witnessed the unexpected fall of Kabul. On the 15th of August 2021, I was teaching at Kateb University when two of my students received repeated calls from their parents about the arrival of the Taliban in Kabul and that they should leave the university and return home as soon as possible. The fear, apprehension, and worry that appeared in the eyes of those two students and the news of the fall of Kabul made all my students worried and scared. It was at the end of the first half of my class that several students left the class and returned home, especially female students due to their greater vulnerability and frequent calls from their family members. I finished my class normally but with a deep fear and worry. 

As the last person to leave the class, I saw that the university campus, which used to be difficult to find a way out because of the high concentration of students, was completely empty and I saw only two university guards who called out “Teacher, leave, the Taliban have arrived at the gates of Kabul!”. After leaving the gate of the university campus and seeing the roaring flood of a wandering nation in the streets of Kabul, I trembled and lost the power to move. I could hardly walk back to my room. 

It was a very sad and fearful day and with the knowledge I had about the previous dark period of the Taliban and living in the shadow of their oppression, terror, and violence, I unconsciously imagined a dangerous and dark future for all the people, especially for the scientific community of Afghanistan. As a university lecturer and a Ph.D. candidate, everything was almost over for me that day and I thought that all my efforts and dreams for the development of Afghanistan’s education and scientific community were destroyed. But I never lost hope and started looking for options to continue my career and academic activities, and luckily, I found the Scholars at Risk Network. 

I will never forget how the SAR Network rushed to help Afghanistan’s scholar community and stood by us with all its strength. The SAR Network in cooperation with Brandeis University not only gave me hope for better days in that difficult time of my life in Kabul, but also provided me with their comprehensive and non-stop support to continue my studies and work in a safe environment here in the United States. 

Anonymous

Scholar Story

Anonymous

SYRIA| My country has been in a state of war for more than ten years now. The upheaval of the war in Syria, has caused me great hardship.  Unable to return to my country, I was desperate and in a difficult position. After learning about SAR’s work I applied in the hopes that they could help me as I work to establish myself as a leader in my field.

SAR offered a unique and much-needed opportunity to pursue my academic career by securing a place where I could enhance my skills and build my resume. This has allowed me to work in an educational environment that is more stable, provides a platform for creativity, freedom of speech, and the free flow of ideas. My host university has accommodated me and given me access to facilities that have helped me achieve my goals until the time comes for me to safely return to Syria. 

Academics living in a war-torn country face many challenges that can affect their personal and professional life, ranging from life-threatening incidents under repressive regimes to discrimination in the workplace. There are limits to what they can do and say. Also, being in such a situation of insecurity and continuous fear about the future is not easy to manage and has a severe impact on a person’s mental health. Therefore, they need every support available.

While it is difficult to keep working in the midst of such hardships, we need to keep trying and never give up on our dream of a better future for ourselves, our families and our countries. We should always be ready to support others as we know how much it means to have a helping hand in such difficult situations.

“My experience since contacting SAR has been very positive and encouraging. I felt I had the support I very much needed. SAR and its team were never reluctant to help with any inquiry or request. They were very kind and understanding of my academic and personal needs and they were happy to listen to them and ac on my behalf. Without SAR support, none of what I am achieving today would have been possible”

“My work matters because it aims to improve the experience of refugees and immigrants in their host countries. SAR has helped me continue this work by offering different forms of support, not limited to financial support or finding a suitable host institution. SAR has helped make my academic journey smoother and more fruitful. I do not know what the future would have looked like without SAR’s support.”

Marvi Sirmed

Scholar Story

Marvi Sirmed

PAKISTAN | In my line of work, especially in countries where democracy is weak, and the rule of law is inadequate, journalists often find themselves in dangerous situations. As a journalist focused on human rights, I had to withstand pressure through social media bullying, disinformation campaigns, death & rape threats, unwarranted raids at my house, and even an assassination attempt. I was already in the US for a fellowship with the National Endowment for Democracy when I was accused of blasphemy back home. That was when I decided not to return to a possible lynching in Pakistan. It was not an easy decision. The thought that kept me awake at night was my possible inability to continue my journalistic work. But when SAR placed me in residency with the University of Connecticut, not only did I get an opportunity to share and refine my ideas as an adjunct professor, but I also was able to continue writing and researching.

During the NED fellowship, I learned about SAR, but I never knew that SAR also had a Practitioners at Risk track. This program allowed me to keep myself alive, not just physically but in spirit too. When I got this residency, I began working on my book, documenting the cases of brazen censorship and media manipulation in South Asian countries, focusing on Pakistan and India. My host institution, the University of Connecticut, welcomed me with open arms and extended a helping hand in every aspect of my job and even in my personal life. The transition from working as an activist and a journalist in Pakistan to working in US academia felt complicated until I met colleagues at UConn, who made it a point to be there whenever I needed guidance, advice, or just a friendly chat that made me feel I belonged and my work was valued. At UConn, I also had the opportunity to get to know other academics doing excellent work.

SAR also connected me to the New University in Exile Consortium, which is a great platform for the community of academics in exile. I would not have been able to continue my writing had I not discovered SAR’s practitioner track. So my advice to the scholars and practitioners already in residency would be to remain active in the network and offer mentorship to other scholars who are at risk. If you feel you cannot continue your scholarly or professional work as a practitioner due to the threats you face, you must explore how SAR can help you.

Anonymous

Scholar Story

Anonymous

ETHIOPIA | As a professor of law, I discussed the topic of human rights abuses and breaches of the laws of war in Tigray, a state in northern Ethiopia, during lectures of my December 2020 International Human Rights Law class. The discussions centered on claims of human rights breaches, including the targeting of civilians (murders, imprisonment), and the racial profiling of Tigrayans, which was also being covered by international news sources and human rights groups as a high profile topic at the time. The University administration accused me of acting against the federal government’s actions in Tigray and sympathizing with the regional authority. Consequently, I was warned to stop referring to the situation in Tigray. This had the unintended consequence of self-censoring my lectures in subsequent classes. After I completed teaching the human rights course, I was not given any more teaching responsibilities for the semester that followed. As long as I was under monitoring and severe pressure, it was evident that I would not be able to continue teaching, and was gradually being removed from my academic position. Consequently, I was compelled to leave my position in February 2021. I then joined a think tank, where the harassment persisted. Unable to pursue my academic career, I fled the country and finished my postdoctoral research at an American university. Due to my risk of persecution, it was unsafe for me to return to Ethiopia. With the help of SAR, I was able to obtain a position at a university in the United States, where I continue to publish, and speak often at conferences and public events on human rights, the rule of law, and African studies. My research focuses on the increasing importance of, and threat to, supranational institutions including human right mechanisms and international courts. I will never forget the day I received the news from SAR that the university where I worked as a postdoc had agreed to host me. I am thankful and appreciative for the persistent effort that SAR made to help me. The constant hard work of SAR to help is not ordinary to find. Because of SAR, I am able to continue my research.

“I will never forget the day I received the news from SAR that the university…had agreed to host me. I am thankful and appreciative for the persistent effort that SAR made to help me.”

Anonymous

Scholar Story

Anonymous

AFGHANISTAN | I worked as a university professor in Kabul, Afghanistan for eight years. I was the dean of my department, and enjoyed working in an academic environment with the hardworking students of my country. Seeing my past students as graduate and doctoral students in the best universities in the world, and as high- ranking government and non-government employees, strongly motivated me to stay in my country and do my duty. With all my heart, I devoted myself to the education of students whom I thought would play a very important role in the future of Afghanistan. In addition to facilitating knowledge production, I always tried to foster an environment that promoted insightfulness and awareness about the issues the country was facing. Open discussions were always a part of my classes and I had no qualms about talking about political issues and challenging the beliefs (religious and non-religious) of my students. Many times I was threatened by some of my students to not raise such discussions in my classes. But since I saw the great interest of most of the students in these issues, I did not take these threats very seriously.

But after some university professors were killed in Kabul and other provinces of Afghanistan in suicide and terrorist attacks, my concerns intensified. I felt extremely threatened when the Taliban came to power in August 2021. Then, my wife received an official threat letter from the Taliban due to her work with government and international projects, and was forced to resign from her job. When the Taliban entered Kabul, they threatened to harm me and my family and we could not leave the house for many days. At the end of August 2021, in the middle of the night, we left our house and all of our possessions and were evacuated to Europe. I am currently working as a visiting scholar at a university in Canada, and I would like to thank the great teams of SAR and IIE-SRF that helped me.

Currently, freedom of expression has been completely destroyed in Afghanistan and university professors experience many restrictions. The smallest protests are severely suppressed and many of my colleagues (especially those from religious and ethnic minorities) have lost their jobs.

By saving the lives of academics, scientists, and university professors, SAR helps them to reach their great goal of spreading science, awareness, and insight to their communities. I think that such an activity is right against the terrorist and dictatorial regimes in many countries of the world.