Human Trafficking of Rohingya Refugees Across Southeast Asia: A Documentary Screening and Roundtable with Whistleblower Paween Pongsirin

Film: “Thailand’s Fearless Cop”, 101 East, Al Jazeera (45 minutes)

5.45 to 8pm, Wednesday 27th July

Theatre, 10 Hadenfeld Avenue

Macquarie University

Co-organised by Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Languages, and Literature in collaboration with the Activism, Rights and Justice Research Stream, Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University

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Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney

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In anticipation of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (July 30, 2022), concerned scholars from Macquarie University and University of Sydney invite members of the public to a free documentary screening of “Thailand’s Fearless Cop” to discuss the plight of Rohingya refugees in Southeast Asia who face the threat of human trafficking on a daily basis.

We are privileged to be joined by the former Police Major General Paween Pongsirin, the focus of the feature film, who formerly led the Thai response to human trafficking/exploitation of Rohingya across Thailand’s borders with Myanmar and Malaysia and who now lives in exile in Australia.

The evening will start with opening remarks from award-winning journalist, author, and Professor of Journalism at Macquarie University, Peter Greste. Following the documentary screening, Paween will be joined in conversation by Mr Mohammad Rauf (Arakan Rohingya Development Association-Australia), Dr Roger Lee (Macquarie University), and Professor Catherine Renshaw (Western Sydney University) about the ongoing challenges facing Rohingya within a variety of authoritarian contexts across Southeast Asia.

The event will explore rights to freedom of speech and movement enshrined in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and how whistleblowers and activists shape discourses surrounding human trafficking within contexts where media and other forms of communication face censorship.

The event is FREE to attend but pre-registration is required.

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We would also like to encourage donation to support the Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking (https://www.unodc.org/blueheart). The campaign is organised by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Please join us to support the campaign here: https://act.unfoundation.org/onlineactions/SmFcWa8uHUea1iMzKrSCEg2

For any enquiries, please contact Dr Chavalin Svetanant at chavalin.svetanant@mq.edu.au.

Event Schedule (tentative)

5:45pm: Registration Opens

6:00pm: Welcome and Acknowledge of Country (Dr Chavalin Svetanant)

6.05pm: Opening Remarks (Professor Peter Greste)

6:10pm: Introduction to the documentary (Mr Paween Pongsirin)

6:15pm: Documentary Screening – "Thailand’s Fearless Cop"

7.00pm: Roundtable Discussion

8.00pm: Concluding Remarks (Dr Thomas Baudinette)

Photos by courtesy of Al Jazeera and UNODC