Taking stock of Scholars at Risk 2022
Institutional Communication Service
19 December 2022
The Scholars at Risk (SAR) programme helped 171 scholars in 2022 find academic positions where they could safely continue their research and teaching work. It is the highest number since the programme was created in 1999, SAR director Robert Quinn noted in his newly released annual report. Particularly pressing for the organisation was the Afghan crisis, with the return of the Taliban to power and the conflict in Ukraine in the second half of the year. However, assistance to scholars from other countries where freedom of research is threatened, such as Yemen, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Cameroon, has not been lacking; also of concern is the situation in Iran with the repression of protests carried out even in universities.
The SAR network is active in 43 countries and involves 650 academic institutions, including Università della Svizzera italiana. A scholar who came to USI from Afghanistan through the SAR programme, Parwiz Mosamim, currently a PhD student at the Institute of Communication and Public Policy (ICPP), is featured on the cover of the SAR project's annual report along with Pakistani journalist and activist Marvi Sirmed, currently at the University of Connecticut after being accused of blasphemy, and Afghan researcher Hadi Mohammadi currently at Brandeis University.
