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Susan Akram

Clinical Professor of Law at Boston University

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  • Boston University

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Biography

Boston University

Professor Susan Akram was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan, in a multicultural, multiethnic, multilingual household. “My father’s family were refugees from the 1947 India-Pakistan partition, and my own life experiences and professional choices have been indelibly marked by that legacy,” she says.

Her early exposure to the plight of refugees steered her into a legal career in immigration and refugee law. Professor Akram, who teaches in the BU Law’s Clinical Program, worked for many years as an immigration lawyer before joining the faculty in 1993. She has served as executive director of Boston’s Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project and as directing attorney of the immigration project at Public Counsel, a public interest law firm in Los Angeles. In 1992 she was interim director of the agency overseeing the resettlement of Gulf War Iraqi refugees in Saudi Arabia.

At Boston University, Professor Akram teaches in the Civil Litigation Clinic, where she supervises law students in their representation of indigent clients in immigration and refugee cases. She also teaches Immigration Law and Policy and Comparative Refugee Law. Her distinguished research was recognized with a Fulbright Senior Scholar Teaching and Research Award for the 1999-2000 academic year. She used the grant to research and write recommendations for a durable solution for Palestinian refugees in light of the 1993 Oslo Talks, and to teach at the Palestine School of Law at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem.

“My areas of teaching and practice are an extension of my personal, political and philosophical beliefs about law as a change agent for social justice,” she says. “The rewards are many, from restoring safety and security to individual lives, to giving students the satisfaction of using law for positive change.

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Cases

Don’t Assume Trump’s Bias is Mere Bluster

June 14, 2016

American Prospect Susan Akram, School of Law On December 7, in a seemingly throwaway line, Donald Trump said that if he were president he would move to bar all Muslims from entering the country until we “can figure out what the hell is going on.”… Expert quote: “We now have a broad array of measures that […]

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Syria continues to bleed while the Middle East closes its doors

March 23, 2016

Open Democracy By Susan Akram, School of Law There are many points on which to find agreement with James Hathaway’s recent piece in this debate—particularly the continued relevance of the 1951 Refugee Convention… View full article by expert Susan Akram 

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Report: Refugees Again — Palestinians in Syria Have it Twice as Hard to Get Asylum

January 20, 2016

International Middle East Media Center Susan Akram, School of Law Palestinian refugees from Syria are amongst the most vulnerable refugees who seek safety in Europe. But, the legal framework that is being applied to their plight is a discriminatory one… View full article referencing expert Susan Akram

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The Path Beyond the Waves

September 10, 2015

Bloomberg Susan Akram, School of Law Europe is swinging between two responses amid its refugee crisis: Xenophobia and a compassionate pragmatism… Expert quote: “There’s been a huge critique of the Dublin framework with the understanding now that it’s the front-line states that end up bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis.” View full article

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Desperate Journeys

September 3, 2015

Al Jazeera English Susan Akram, School of Law Comments on the EU refugee crisis… View video of expert Susan Akram

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Uprooted by Israel, abandoned by the world: the plight of Palestine’s refugees

March 10, 2015

The Electronic Intifada Susan Akram, School of Law Hisham has spent his 23 years in Aida refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. He lives there with his parents, and has watched all but one of his seven siblings grow up, marry and make their own lives and homes… Expert quote: “UNRWA has no mandate […]

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What next after Palestine’s ICC bid?

January 10, 2015

Ahram Online Susan Akram, School of Law The one thing both Palestinians and Israelis agreed on earlier this week, in describing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s move to admit Palestine as a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a “desperate” act, might be accurate. But the legitimacy, necessity and repercussions of the move are […]

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The president’s executive order: what difference will it make for immigrants?

November 24, 2014

The Conversation US Susan Akram, School of Law On November 20, President Obama announced a plan – through an executive order – to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation if they meet certain criteria. His move has caused uproar among the Republicans on Capitol Hill and in many state governors’ mansions… Expert quote: “Two issues that […]

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Stranded refugees on Jordan’s crossroads

August 12, 2014

Middle East Eye Susan Akram, School of Law Many Syrian refugees of Palestinian origin are finding themselves in legal limbo after being refused entry to Jordan… Expert quote: “By about the late 1950s, early 1960s, because the UNCCP was unable to achieve what it was required to, the UN kept defunding the agency. It’s defunct […]

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Broadside: Is Snowden stateless?

July 6, 2013

NECN Susan Akram, School of Law View video

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