Revival

I have not posted anything on here since...July. I started this blog as a way to continue communication with so many people back in the U.S. while I was in a far more remote part of the world this past summer. What I am realizing is that law school provides a similar solitude--I am in front of my computer 18 hours a day but never really in a position to catch up with people. Thus, I decided to continue these postings for the few, the dedicated, the people who actually find my life somewhat entertaining.

This semester, however, has brought the interesting project of being able to do a lot of research on something I find remarkably interesting: the international legal policy of not sending refugees back to countries of persecution (the policy known as "non-refoulement"), as embedded in not only the 1951 convention as relating to the status of refugees, but also the Convention Against Torture. There are 132 countries who have signed and ratified the 1951 Convention. And I dare say a similar number that have refouled refugees consistently over the years. Admittedly, it's not like this is gravely different from any other international legal norm dealing with human rights issues--lots of treaties, lots of people standing up on significant days of the year, shaking their fists and crying out against the atrocities that are occurring all over the place, only to get back on the plane and return to drafting laws and memos that will absolve themselves for following the very acts that would put an end to all that they decried just the day before. But I digress. I am interested to continue researching and see how I can weave a compelling argument, and possibly be ballsy enough to suggest a reform or two...we'll see what develops.

I am reading a remarkable book that I implore people to check out: What is the What, by Dave Eggers. It's a poetic, sad, true account of the Lost Boys of Sudan, told by one man, living in Georgia. The narrative is remarkable, and Mr. Eggers has done a superb job of weaving the tale in a very compelling manner. I have not yet finished it, but it is completely enthralling, and the narrator's true recollection of being interviewed for resettlement in the Kakuma camps in Kenya add a different perspective from the throne that I occupied this summer.

So there you have it. First post in a long time. Maybe compelling enough to keep coming back, and maybe not...but cathartic for me once again.