A NETWORKING EXPERIENCE THAT LED TO UPEACE
After graduating from Law School in Bangkok, Thailand, Pachernwit Saendi decided that his call for serving humanity was not to pursue the corporate scene but to take part in the work of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Thailand. After four years, thanks to one of his co-workers and fellow UPEACE Alum, Kitprasert Nopparat (M.A in International Law and Human Rights, 2014), he found UPEACE and made the ultimate decision to pursue his M.A. in International Law and Human Rights, thanks to the Asian Peacebuilders Scholarship Programme, financed by The Nippon Foundation.
A PASSION FOR INTERNATIONAL AND REFUGEE LAW
Pachernwit, considering the entire UPEACE academic offer, what made you decide to enrol in the M.A. in International Law and Human Rights?
I have a lot of passion for the work that I did for UNHCR and a lot of interest in refugee issues, which is I decided to apply for International Law and Human Rights, to deepen down my knowledge of refugee law. By studying at UPEACE, apart from the richness and the robustness of the academic side, it also gave me a lot of time to reflect about myself of who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do with my career as a lawyer. The campus, with [its extensive] forest, gives you a lot of calmness to think about the future and who you really are.
FROM THAILAND TO COSTA RICA TO NIGER
What was life like for you after UPEACE?
At the end of my programme in 2017, I went back to Thailand for a couple of months and got a job at UNHCR [out of] Niger in 2018. Working here is quite challenging because I work for an emergency evacuation program, in which we evacuate highly vulnerable [persons], especially refugees, from Libya to Niger to process their asylum claim, so they can continue their journey to their resettlement countries.
What specific topics do you deal with daily in your work with UNHCR?
I work with RSD (Refugee Status Determination), so every day we must talk to people that are fleeing from violence and interview them to see if they fall within the refugee criteria in International Law, and, as we’re the ones that evacuated them from Libya to Niger, we have to provide them protection while they are living here, meaning that we also give them education, training, healthcare, and shelter while they are waiting for the decision.
THE HUMAN SIDE OF WORKING WITH REFUGEES
What is like to be on the frontline helping refugees?
It is quite challenging, because when you are working very closely with refugees, you must understand what they have been through. When I talk to people who are most likely to be considered refugees, I see them as persons who have been through a lot and are very strong survivors. Many of their family [members] have died and when they are forced to leave their home, during that journey, their friends and family continued to lose their lives and face things that you cannot even imagine. At the same time, I feel so grateful that I have the chance to help them and listen to their stories.
Before my Conflict Resolution course at UPEACE, I thought that lawyers should only focus the law and what it says. However, when you are working in the field, you cannot just use all these legal [instruments], because when you are meeting with the people you are helping, there will always be some conflicts happening, so when you gain a different perspective and tools on how to manage conflict, you learn what to say, but most importantly, how to listen and understand before the conflict becomes more severe.
Day to day, I work with refugees that come into the interview rooms with a lot of concern, frustrations, and tears in their eyes and by just sitting them down and giving them space to talk and really listening of them, you can see and feel them release their pain somehow and sometimes they end up thanking you for it.
What advice you would give to UPEACERS interested in working in the field with refugees?
I think that one of the most unique experience that you gain by studying at UPEACE is that you work and learn in a highly multicultural and very well-connected network, because apart from the students that come from all around the world and many different backgrounds, you also have professors who used to work in many UN [agencies] or humanitarian organizations, [as well as] experts or visiting professors. You also have this Alumni network of [professionals] who are already doing their job in the field.
What is the best experience you had on campus on how did it change your career?
I really liked the multicultural diversity at UPEACE. There are a lot of students coming from many countries around the world and [you can] share your experiences and knowledge in the classroom, as well as outside the classroom, with open-minded people. In my class, we all really wanted to learn and share between each other, and I think the location of UPEACE stimulates our passion to learn and the discussions we have.