Asylum Access

Michelle Arévalo-Carpenter
Project Director, Ecuador

Michelle Arévalo-Carpenter was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. Motivated by her country's striking inequality and sub-standard living conditions, Michelle became involved in social causes at a very early age, working on projects for inclusive leadership and gender awareness. At the age of 17, Michelle was offered a scholarship to study Human Rights, Political Science and Philosophy at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada. While at St. Thomas, Michelle founded the university's Human Rights Society and led campaigns related to children in armed conflict and multiculturalism.

Her interest in refugee issues began when she volunteered with Ecuador's Refugee Affairs Office in 2001, at the same time that the massive displacement of Colombians into Ecuador began its exponential growth. As an intern, she was shocked to learn about the reality of armed conflict occurring so close to her hometown. Her lifelong commitment to working with refugees was re-affirmed when she first interviewed a Colombian family with three daughters who fled the conflict due to the high risk of having the girls forcibly recruited to fight or serve the guerrilla. Since then, she returned to Ecuador every summer to continue her work with refugees.

Michelle has also had an interest in sustainable development. While at St Thomas University, she co-founded and twice coordinated the "Sigchos Development Project," which was a program designed to bring Canadian students, particularly engineers, to the rural mountains of Cotopaxi province in Ecuador and assist in the development of sanitary units and potable water systems. The project has continued for a number of years after Michelle's departure and resulted in a permanent contribution to rural communities through an active Ecuador-based NGO, Ayuda Directa.

In 2004 Michelle became the youngest student admitted to the University of Oxford's Masters' of Studies Programme (LLM) in International Human Rights Law. During her studies Michelle was part of a Pro Bono research team on whether Operation Murambatsvina in Zimabwe constituted crimes against humanity. She then produced academic proposals on the reform of the UN Human Rights Treaty Body System. Michelle also worked for the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in its Geneva office on human rights advocacy before the UN Human Rights Council, particularly for women's, economic and social rights.

Since returning to Ecuador in 2006 Michelle worked briefly at Fundación Esquel, one of the largest development NGO's in the country, before becoming a Refugee Eligibility Officer with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this position she has adjudicated and made recommendations on hundreds of refugee claims. Michelle is now thrilled to work with Asylum Access. In her position Michelle works towards securing protection and advocating for refugees' rights in Ecuador, home to the largest refugee population in Latin America. Although almost 15,000 people are registered and recognized as refugees, up to 250,000 are believed to be in Ecuador in need of protection, not having accessed the refugee status determination process.