What we do
Diaspora & Exile Engagement
Bridging activists in exile with their countries of origin, countering transnational repression, supporting safe engagement, and amplifying voices forced to operate from abroad.
OVERVIEW
Why diaspora and exile engagement matters
Exile no longer guarantees safety. Authoritarian governments now reach across borders to surveil, harass, threaten, and even physically target dissidents abroad, with consequences for their families left behind.
HuMENA works with diasporas across Europe and North America to document transnational repression, build cross-border protection networks, and ensure that exiled voices remain part of the public record at home.
We intersect with embassies, host-state authorities, and international bodies, turning fragmented incidents into documented patterns that reshape how host states protect at-risk communities.
HOW WE WORK IN THIS AREA
How HuMENA works on diaspora & exile engagement
01
Transnational repression
We document how governments target critics abroad: trials in absentia, pressure on families at home and the misuse of embassies.
02
Stop deportations
We act against extraditions and deportations of activists to countries where they would face torture.
03
Activism in exile
Our research, including the Activism in Exile report, looks at how exiled activists organise and stay part of public life at home.
FEATURED
Recent reports & analyses
Toolkit
Gender and Sexuality Activism in Exile: A Toolkit for Human Rights Defenders and LGBTI Activists
A practical toolkit for human rights defenders and LGBTI activists working on gender and sexuality issues while living in exile.
Read publication → Guide
Advocacy from Exile: A Strategic Guide for Human Rights Defenders
At a glance: Human rights advocacy, exile and diaspora, campaign planning, international mechanisms, digital advocacy, safety and risk management | For human rights defenders, activists, journalists…
Read publication → Guide
Guide to Artivism in Exile: Between Expression, Struggle, and Societal Transformation
At a glance: Artivism, exile and diaspora, cultural policy, freedom of artistic expression | For artists and cultural actors in exile, workshop facilitators, cultural and human rights organizations…
Read publication → Analysis
How Access Pathways Reshape the Public Sphere in the Diaspora… Unwritten Rules that Redistribute Legitimacy Within Activism in Exile
The vitality of the public sphere is measured by people’s ability to enter spaces of public action and remain in them.
Read publication →ALSO RECENT
More recent work
- One year since the arrest of Abdulrahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi: a year of complicity, enforced disappearance, and diplomatic failureJoint Statements
- Punishment by Proxy in Egypt: Families of Exiled Journalists, Activists and Human Rights Defenders Held Hostage by the AuthoritiesJoint Statements
- Egypt | Rights Groups Condemn the Arbitrary Referral of Exiled Academic Taqadum Al-Khatib to Trial and Call for an End to Transnational RepressionJoint Statements
- Egypt’s Diplomatic Missions Weaponized as Transnational Repression ToolJoint Statements
- 200 Days of Abdulrahman Yusuf’s Enforced Disappearance: Reveal His Whereabouts. Ensure His Safety. Release Him Now.Joint Statements
- Joint Letter to the Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Urging Action on the Ongoing Detention of Galal El-BehairyLetter
WHERE WE WORK
Diaspora & exile coverage by country
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