Homyra Rahnoma, who graduated from the Master of International Affairs at the Hertie School in 2023, also received an honourable mention from the Centre for Fundamental Rights for her thesis on Legitimacy and Correlated Government Effectiveness.
MIA graduate Homyra Rahnoma has been awarded second place in the postgraduate dissertation competition run by the prestigious Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law. Homyra also received an honourable mention at the inaugural Human Rights Thesis Award from the Centre for Fundamental Rights in September 2023 for her thesis entitled “Does Government Ineffectiveness and Illegitimacy Lead to Migration?” supervised by Shubha Prasad, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Hertie School. Homyra’s thesis is based on extensive field work and interviews with Afghan communities in Turkey. At that time, the Centre for Fundamental Rights’ awarding committee underlined the accomplished nature of Homyra’s work, which not only “shine[s] a light on the situation of Afghan refugees, but also advances our understanding of how migration, government quality, and human rights intersect.”
In her time at the Hertie School, Homyra took courses in both International Law and Migration & Human Rights, which made her aware of how certain national migration policies can deprive migrants of their basic rights. “I learned that international human rights law is universally in place for the protection of individuals and collective groups. But at the same time there are loopholes and evasions, especially in migration policy” she explains. This realisation motivated her to dedicate her final research project to the tension between localised violations of rights which are conceived of as universal.
Looking back on her time at the Hertie School, Homyra expressed gratitude for the guidance she received. “I am deeply grateful to Prof. Shubha Prasad, who motivated and unconditionally supported me throughout the thesis process, and to Prof. Markus Jachtenfuchs and Dr Grażyna Baranowska, who patiently helped me navigate the post-graduate phase.”
Homyra will soon begin a PhD programme at the University of Osnabrück, where she will research gender and migration, focusing on how government policies can restrict women from migrating.