Hyab Yohannes named on ISTAC

Published: 29 January 2021

ISTAC aims to help governments improve their anti-trafficking efforts and ensure they are focused on victims.

Hyab JohannesHyab Yohannes, the holder of the first UNESCO RILA PhD Scholarship, has been named among 21 members of the International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC). ISTAC aims to help governments improve their anti-trafficking efforts and ensure they are focused on victims.

Hyab has extensive experience as a community facilitator and organiser in several countries. In 2017/18 he worked with asylum seekers granted refugee status to transition successfully from living as asylum seekers in Home Office accommodation to living independently in alternative accommodation, and integrating successfully into local communities throughout Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield. He continues his community work from Glasgow and is developing ideas for a formal support network with colleagues in Leeds.

ISTAC provides a mechanism by which its members can mobilise their experience to influence or spearhead anti-trafficking initiatives. The council includes survivors from 14 nations and is part of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

Hyab is currently in the concluding phases of his PhD project: The Plight of Eritrean Refugees in a Carceral Age. Last year he was named in the RSE Young Academy of Scotland (YAS) 2020 intake.

Visit Hyab's research profile.

See Reuters for a full report on the launch of ISTAC or watch the ISTAC launch on Facebook 


OSCE website

First published: 29 January 2021