Petra Molnar reflects on her time at the IHRP, discussing the challenges of COVID-19 and the pleasure of working with students
In August, Petra Molnar left the role of Acting Director of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) to help start the Refugee Law Lab at the Centre for Refugee Studies and Osgoode Hall Law School. Petra graciously sat down with Ultra Vires to talk about her time at the IHRP and her upcoming research.
Addition as of September 29: Petra would like to express her disappointment in the recent decisions surrounding the hiring of a permanent Director for the IHRP. She calls on the administration to prioritize the student experience in international human rights at the law school.
Ultra Vires (UV): How did you become interested in international human rights law?
Petra Molnar (PM): My interest stems from my work in refugee and migration issues. Before I went to law school, I was a refugee settlement worker, assisting people with a variety of issues when they arrived in Canada. As a newcomer myself, I felt an affinity to a lot of those issues. Throughout law school, I stayed focused on refugee and migration issues. I later articled at the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, which does both immigration and refugee law. But I wanted to broaden my work more towards international law and international human rights law as well. The Research Associate position came up at the IHRP and that’s how this adventure started.
UV: What does a day in the life of a director look like?
PM: When you’re a director, the majority of your time is spent not on the sexy, substantive work, but on the administrative tasks that keep a clinic running. The nice thing about the job is that there is a lot of variety — every day is different. Before COVID-19, my days would be filled with meetings, emails, calls, and just trying to get a handle on all the different projects. Another huge part of the role is support: supporting our students and staff to make sure that they can do the best work that they can and are able to. The role is a great way to work closely with people and to build bridges between different communities, within the faculty and also beyond. So that’s been really rewarding.
UV: Are there any aspects of the role that you found unexpected, especially given the pandemic?
PM: The pandemic definitely created an interesting set of considerations for us because the IHRP runs a Summer Fellowship program. The majority of fellows were adversely impacted because they were not able to go to their international placements. It felt like our entire fellowship program just collapsed overnight. It required a lot of creative thinking to figure out how to find jobs for all of these fellows. About a third of our original placements were viable, there was some creative restructuring for some, and then the IHRP ended up absorbing six fellows. Normally we take one. So, we definitely had a very full house this summer, but it was a really awesome group of people to work with.
UV: What was your favourite part of the role?
PM: Working with people and the students in particular. I’ve learned so much from the students and every interaction was a blessing. It was a great way to meet passionate people who really want to make a difference, who think critically about their role in the law, and how to lawyer differently. That’s one of the things I will miss the most about this role: the daily engagement with students, because you folks definitely give me optimism that I think a lot of us in this field need.
UV: In addition to the Acting Director role, you are also a Mozilla Fellow with European Digital Rights; could you tell us more about your work there?
PM: This is actually one of the projects that I’ll be working on now after my time at the IHRP is over. After the Bots at the Gate report that we did with Citizen Lab, I started looking at migration and technology issues from a more international perspective. I ended up landing a fellowship to look at the ways technology is used in and around the border, and the human rights impacts it has, with the idea of grounding the lived experiences of people who are actually interacting and experiencing this technology. We’re actually working on a documentary alongside this, which is a brand new venture for me. We want to bring individual stories to the forefront and want the public to start thinking about some of these issues. With COVID-19, our plans were delayed but we’re going to try and do some interviewing in the Mediterranean and put out a report this fall that will coincide with the report by the UN Special Rappoteur on Discrimination.
UV: How did you come upon the role of Associate Director of the Refugee Law Lab and what do you envision for the new lab?
PM: I was contacted by Sean Rehaag with this opportunity. I decided to take it because it really aligns with my work on migration. It’s a baby lab, just starting off. We’re keeping it open and flexible in terms of what it will look like, but it will sit at the intersection of migration, technology, and human rights.
UV: That sounds really exciting! Do you have any parting words of advice for law students hoping to work in international human rights?
PM: I think for me, one of the most important pieces of advice I got was to trust your gut. When you’re a law student, you get pulled in so many different directions. There are so many competing voices and many of them are from within yourself as well. But I think a lot of people know themselves more than they realize, and it’s important to truly ask yourself what it is you want to do, both as a lawyer and as a person. What kind of person do you want to be and is there a way to incorporate kindness into your practice? Is there a way to incorporate radical social change into it? I think these are the types of questions that will guide you towards the opportunities that make sense. And I don’t mean to negate some of the structural questions that we all have to ask ourselves; the debt load these days is huge. But at the end of the day, you have to do what feels right for you and for your broader life project.
UV: Is there anything that we’ve forgotten or that you would like to add?
PM: I will really miss everybody and I can’t wait to stay in touch. I was going to say my door is always open, but I don’t have a door right now so feel free to reach out at [email protected].
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Annecy Pang has worked at the IHRP, was a 2020 Summer Fellow, and is a current member of the IHRP’s Venezuela Accountability Project.
