Stephanie McDermott, attends the International Conference on the Situations of Rohingya People in Myanmar and Bangladesh, held at the National Assembly in Paris

News Stephanie McDermott, attends the International Conference on the Situations of Rohingya People in Myanmar and Bangladesh, held at the National Assembly in Paris

Stephanie McDermott, lecturer in Citizenship and Equality, attended the International Conference on the Situations of Rohingya People in Myanmar and Bangladesh’ held at the National Assembly in Paris on Friday June 1st. The conference was opened by Dr Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Laureate with the Nobel Women’s Initiative.

Stephanie was part of the Global Civil Society Round-table, presenting a paper on the role of grass roots/civil society organisations in mobilizing a community and preventing human rights abuses. Stephanie, with her colleague Helen Maher, Haikal Mansoor, Rafique Mohammed and Michael Clinton founded the ‘Free Rohingya Coalition Ireland’ (FRCI). One of the objectives of the coalition is to recognize August 25th as Rohingya Remembrance Day. Carlow College will host an event on Saturday August 25th to promote Rohingya ethnicity and culture and to remember the Rohingya that have been the casualties of genocide and human rights abuses.