Bio
Malavika Rao is a PhD candidate and teaching assistant in the International Law department at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. Prior to commencing her doctoral studies, Malavika was the Utility Justice Legal Fellow at The Utility Reform Network (TURN) in San Francisco (2016-2018); and a research assistant at the Center for Law, Energy and Environment at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a lawyer from India, holds a BA LLB (Hons.) degree from Christ University in Bangalore, India and an LLM degree in Environmental Law, Energy and Clean Technology Law from the University of California Berkeley, USA. At UC Berkeley, she was a recipient of the Dean's Letter of Commendation for outstanding commitment to public interest and social justice. Her PhD research under the supervision of Prof. Vincent Chetail focuses on the application of the principle of non-refoulement to food-deprived forced migrants. Her research interests include international migration law, international environmental law and climate change, and human rights law.
Recent Publications
- Should Internal Migrants Who Cannot Return Home Due To COVID-19 be Treated as Disaster IDPs? Lessons from India, 39(4) Refugee Survey Quarterly (Special Issue on Internal Displacement), Oxford University Press 2020. (https://academic.oup.com/rsq/article/39/4/609/6075993?rss=1)
- India’s pandemic exodus was a biological disaster and stranded migrant workers should be classified as internally displaced, The Conversation. June 21st, 2021.(https://theconversation.com/indias-pandemic-exodus-was-a-biological-disaster-and-stranded-migrant-workers-should-be-classified-as-internally-displaced-161868)
- India: Los millones de trabajadores afectados por el éxodo pandémico deben ser considerados desplazados internos (translated), The Conversation, June 29th, 2021.(https://theconversation.com/india-los-millones-de-trabajadores-afectados-por-el-exodo-pandemico-deben-ser-considerados-desplazados-internos-163132)