Emilie McDonnell

Biography

Dr Emilie McDonnell is an international lawyer and human rights advocate, with expertise in international human rights law, refugee law and international law more broadly. She currently works at Human Rights Watch in London as the UK Advocacy and Communications Officer. During her time at Oxford on the Rhodes Scholarship (2016-21), Emilie was awarded a Doctorate in Law on protecting the right to leave of asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants during externalised migration control, an MPhil in Law, and Bachelor of Civil Law with Distinction. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) and a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours in Law from the University of Tasmania, and is also a qualified Australian lawyer. A book based on her doctoral thesis is forthcoming with Hart Publishing. In 2013, she co-founded and was a Director until 2016 of the Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service. She has experience working with UNRWA's Department of Legal Affairs in East Jerusalem, the Refugee Studies Centre, a UK legal aid law firm in the immigration detention and deportation team, and a legislative and policy consulting firm in Australia. She publishes regularly on human rights and refugee issues and appears on radio and television, such as the BBC and Al Jazeera. She is an Adjunct Researcher at the University of Tasmania School of Law, and has taught on various subjects at the University of Oxford and the University of Tasmania.