A recent one month internship in New Delhi gave one student a powerful insight into how law can be used as a force for good in under-privileged societies. A grant from the ANU College of Law Finance Committee gave law student Claudia Newman-Martin the chance to undertake an internship with the South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC) early this year.
SAHRDC is a not-for-profit organisation that investigates documents and disseminates information about human rights issues. It is staffed by lawyers and unpaid interns.
During her internship Claudia compiled a chapter relating to the plight of Sri Lankan refugees, which will contribute to an official SAHRDC publication regarding the status of refugees in the South Asian region. The publication is intended to be distributed to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigration as well as various United Nations Committees.
She also worked closely with a number of NGO groups representing refugees who were applying for resettlement to a third country and assisted in making their claims to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. During her internship she worked closely with other interns from Harvard University, Smith College and the University of Queensland.
“My SAHRDC internship taught me an immense amount about the way in which international law operates in practice and the challenges faced by human rights lawyers in the developing world,” Claudia said.
“I was able to use the skills that I have gained as a result of my study at ANU in a practical setting.
“I learnt more about the power of well-constructed legal analysis in making legal applications and most importantly, I witnessed the potential of the law and legal training to be used as a force for good in under-privileged societies”.
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=1019