A Message from the Responsibility to Protect Student Coalition

The ECR2P Student Coalition brings you this special guest blog on their work and vision through student advocacy for the Responsibility to Protect.

The European Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (ECR2P) Student Society aims to promote the values and importance of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) to students and the broader public. It was founded in February 2020 by Charlotte Abbott, Emily Faux, Louisa Polack and Abigail Ross. Hosted under the ECR2P (University of Leeds), the Society develops and expands on earlier work done by the ECR2P Student Coalition. We would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to thank all the students involved in developing the Coalition up until this point. Going forward, the critical difference is that the new ECR2P Student Society has been given official status within the University of Leeds Union and as a result, we can hold more events to raise awareness of R2P.

What have we been up to?

Since the four of us began as 1st year undergraduates in 2018, we have worked closely with ECR2P Co-Directors, Adrian Gallagher and Cristina Stefan. In early 2019, Emily Faux organised a screening of ‘E-Team’ at a local cultural hotspot in Leeds: The Hyde Park Book Club (HPBC), in order to show our members what our society was all about. In late 2019, we held a second event, ‘Coffee, Painting and Human Rights’ again at the HPBC, where we shared our differing perceptions on humanity, showing our members how diverse in scope the values of R2P are. The fact that these events take place outside the University of Leeds, reflects our commitment to promote the R2P to the broader public and students from a wider variety of disciplines.

In 2020, Charlotte Abbott interviewed Dr Karen Smith, the United Nations Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect, alongside others in the Responsibility to Protect Student Journal Editorial team. This journal was founded by a group of students in 2015 at the University of Leeds and Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. It welcomes articles written by students all around the globe, with submissions focusing on R2P, mass atrocities and human rights violations.

After taking an interest in R2P in first year, Charlotte Abbott and Emily Faux joined the journal as Junior Editors, taking on social media, communication and development roles. Recently, they have been contacting universities across the globe to advertise the new Call for Papers and the most recent publication in order to increase the range of perspectives on R2P for publication in the journal.

The most recent publication, Volume 5 Issue 1, focuses on responses to mass human rights violations with articles covering issues from the genocide of Rohingyas in Myanmar, to the European Union’s relationship with R2P. The journal is therefore a key vehicle for R2P education and also provides students across the world with an outlet to have their articles considered for publication. If you are interested in publishing your work with this journal, please feel free to explore the website, or email the Editorial Team at r2pstudentjournal@gmail.com.

In short, our aim is to spread the message of preserving equality and humanity across the university and gain greater student involvement within the society. We plan to do this by holding a variety of events, such as more social-oriented screenings, as well as more formal talks and conferences held at the university.

Going forward

As students, we are very aware that the context and background upon which R2P is set, is rapidly changing. For example, Covid-19 has not only created new challenges to humanity but is also exacerbating pre-existing and key human rights issues. Namely, the state-sponsored genocide in Myanmar of the Rohingya minority is worsening. This is evident both in Myanmar and in the attitudes of surrounding states, such as when the Bangladesh authorities recently denied entry of an overcrowded boat full of desperate Rohingya migrants due to their internal burgeoning coronavirus struggles. Whilst not denying that Covid-19 is a huge burden and concern for Bangladesh and other states, it is clear that the virus is being used as an excuse for human rights abuses to occur. As students of R2P, we endeavour to recognise and challenge this. Currently, our committee is excited to be planning a range of events for the new semester (exercising social   distancing if needs be). First up, in light of the Rohingya migrant crisis, we will be inviting all our members to join us in a fundraising effort in the new academic year.

The ECR2Psoc is a place of debate, but of respect. It is a place to learn, and a place to listen. We share like-mindedness, but will not reject differences. Together, our members are united in a passion and willingness to actively understand and raise awareness of the four crimes covered by the R2P. But as Ian Kershaw once wrote, "the road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference’. With this in mind, we draw attention to the day-to-day practices such as hate speech, discrimination, and dehumanisation which underpin mass atrocities to order to challenge both hatred and indifference.

As four young women, we would particularly like to draw attention to the gender blind spot in both R2P academia. The lack of female authorship and citations is crystal clear. As representatives of the ECR2P, we are committed to raising awareness regarding the gender issues surrounding R2P, in an attempt to change and influence this as best we can. Within the ECR2P, Cristina Stefan formed the Women’s Network on R2P, Peace and Security, and we look forward to projecting her vision into our society aims and events over the course of the year.

From September, we will be hosting recruitment events for new members to join our society - albeit most likely over Zoom! We currently have members from a range of subject disciplines, and look towards further increasing the number, diversity and scope of our outreach through connecting with other societies and university intakes. We are excited to develop the progress we have made this year, and to work with new members, networks and ideas very soon.

ECR2P Student Coalition, University of Leeds.

If you are interested in submitting a blog post for the ECR2P's Fresh Perspectives series, then please contact Richard Illingworth by Email (pt17rji@leeds.ac.uk) or Twitter (@RJI95).