I am a humanitarian practitioner and researcher with an interest in transitional justice, humanitarian protection and human rights. I am a PhD candidate at the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) at the University of York in the UK, looking at how to address the issue of persons missing in conflict. This research is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council.

Before returning to academia I worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). As a delegate of the ICRC I worked to protect and assist victims of armed conflict, during misions in Timor-Leste, Uganda and Nepal. In all these missions I worked on the issue of persons missing in conflict, as well as other issues of protection and assistance for victims of conflict.

Recent publications
A PhD project at the PRDU: Addressing the needs of families of the Missing:  A test of contemporary approaches to transitional justice

This study aims to understand the needs of families of those missing in conflict and how best these needs can be addressed after conflict. Using ethnographic research methods in two primary contexts, Nepal and Timor-Leste, the study will constitute a victim centred evaluation of the effectiveness of transitional justice in answering victims' needs, as perceived by victims themselves. It seeks to challenge a global transitional justice discourse that is elite driven, legalistic and institutional, by listening to the voices of those most affected by the violence that preceded transition.

The father of a missing boy from Bardiya, Nepal, holding his son's school identifcation card (left).

Photos of Nepal

From early 2006 until September 2007 I was working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)  in Nepalgunj in western Nepal as head of the ICRC sub-delegation. For ten years Maoist insurgents had been fighting the Royal Government, and Nepalgunj is the headquarters of the region that has long been the Maoists' stronghold.

Developments since April 2007 and the dramatic days of the People's Movement have led to the Maoists becoming the largest party in the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution. However, instability continues with the peace process essentially blocked by the lack of perceived common ground between the Maoists and the traditional parties. Social exclusion by class, caste, gender and ethnicity, that caused the conflict, remains largely unchallenged.

(More details of the ICRC's work in Nepal can be found here.)
Left: Girl from Dolpo. Below: View in Jumla

Nepalgunj, Nepal 2006

A small, provinicial town that is the centre of the Mid West region of Nepal, here is a photo of the main street in Nepalgunj..

Uganda 2004-5

I spent 18 months in Uganda working in the ICRC Protection department in Kampala, and as head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Gulu in the north. This was a difficult time, with LRA attacks common and almost the entire Acholi population displaced to camps. ICRC work was dominated by assistance to the displaced and protection work for detainees and civilians impacted by the conflict.

I would like to thank all my colleagues, especially those in Gulu (some of whom are shown on the right) for making this time so productive.

Some Congolese fabrics from the region...

The rock paintings of Nyero

This was a brief trip around one of Uganda's few cultural sights, at Nyero, Kumi district, in the east of the country, November 2004.

Timor-Leste 2003-4

From May 2003 to May 2004 I was based in Dili, Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste is recovering from its traumatic separation from Indonesia in 1999, and celebrated its independence in May 2002. I was working largely on the issue of people missing in relation to the conflict of the last 25 years, and assisting in the establishment of an East Timor Red Cross Society, the Cruz Vermelha de Timor-Leste.

Click here for more details of the work of the ICRC in East Timor.

A few of my photos from East Timor can be found here.

contact: simon.robins@NOSPAMsimonrobins.com

Last update: 22.02.2010