Nejla Sammakia

Editor Rights in Exile Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, 2019–Present

Nejla has an LLM in International Human Rights Law from University College Cork, Ireland, where she examined EU efforts to provide protection to asylum seekers in the aftermath of revolutions in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria, while simultaneously preventing the arrival of irregular migrants. She has written on the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, in particular in North Africa, identifying the extent of adherence to international standards, and providing recommendations for national authorities and for the EU. She has covered refugee issues as a program officer with a major donor organisation, and as a human rights researcher with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Prior to that, she worked as a journalist with the Associated Press and wrote about various human rights issues, including on refugees and migrants. Nejla has dual Irish and Egyptian citizenships, is fluent in Arabic and French, and has a working knowledge of Turkish.