Episode 9 - Protecting Ethnic Minorities in a Post Colonial World

Who Does International Law Actually Protect?

International Law has expanded vastly in the last hundred years with the development of human rights, various movements of independence around the world and the breakout of a plethora NGOs focused on shining a light on important global issues. However, how much as international law done to protect minorities, especially in postcolonial states?

In this episode, we talk to Professor Mohammad Shahabuddin about the western oriented nature of international law and how this has affected ethnic minorities such as Rohingyas in Myanmar and the Rakhine Buddhists in Bangladesh

Mohammad Shahabuddin is a Professor of International Law & Human Rights at Birmingham Law School. He first joined BLS as a Senior Lecturer in 2016 and was later promoted to Reader in International Law & Human Rights. Prior to joining Birmingham, he served Keele University as a Lecturer in Law from 2014 to 2016. He also held visiting professorships at Yokohama National University (2013-14) and Keio Law School (2014 & 2016) in Japan. He has been a Faculty Member for Harvard Law School’s Institute for Global Law and Policy (IGLP) Workshops since 2013. He is a member of the Editorial Board for the Asian Journal of International Law (Cambridge Journals). Shahab teaches and researches in international law and human rights with special focus on the history and theory of international law, ethnicity and nationalism, and human rights. His teaching and research is informed by critical, postcolonial, and TWAIL (Third World Approaches to International Law) scholarship. He is the author of Ethnicity and International Law: Histories, Politics and Practices (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and upcoming book - Minorities and the Making of Postcolonial States in International Law.