Rez Gardi
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Rez Gardi | |
|---|---|
ڕێژین گەردی | |
 Gardi in 2018 | |
| Born | Rêz Gerdî Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan |
| Education | Harvard University (LLM) – 2019 |
| Occupations | International lawyer, activist |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Known for | Human rights activism |
| Awards | Young New Zealander of the Year Award (2017) UNYA Outstanding Youth Delegate Award (2019) Harvard Satter Human Rights Fellowship (2019) |
Rez Gardi MNZM (Kurdish: ڕێژین گەردی, Rêz Gerdî; 1991[1]) is New Zealand's first Kurdish lawyer and human rights activist. She was named Young New Zealander of the Year for 2017 for her services to human rights.[2]
Gardi was born in a United Nations refugee camp in Quetta, Pakistan as her parents fled from persecution in their homeland of Kurdistan.[3]
Gardi's mother fled the Kurdish region of Iraq when her village Sedakan was attacked by chemical weapons during the Anfal campaign. Gardi's grandmother and two aunts were killed in an attack by Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath regime and her grandfather was disabled. Gardi's father is from the Hakkari region in the Kurdish region of Turkey and his family fled to Iraqi Kurdistan due to oppressive treatment by the Turkish Government. They then fled from Iraq to Iran as political refugees.[4] Gardi's parents met as teenagers as part of a Kurdish human rights movement in Iran. Gardi's parents were forced to flee Iran when it became too dangerous for human rights activists. While fleeing across the Iran-Pakistan border in 1989, Gardi and her family were saved by a border guard, who chose not to report them hiding in the truck they were being smuggled in.[5]
Gardi's family were accepted as political refugees in Pakistan and remained there until 1998 when they were resettled to New Zealand as part of the UNHCR resettlement programme.
Gardi has said that she was forced to lie about her Kurdish heritage at school to avoid Islamophobic bullying in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.[6]
Gardi has two siblings: one sister and one brother.
Education
Gardi graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts (double major) in 2016 from the University of Auckland, where she was recognized as 40 under 40 alumni.[7] She completed a Master of Law at Harvard Law School in 2019,[8] becoming the first Kurd in history to graduate from Harvard Law.[9] At Harvard Law School, she received the Dean's Award for Community Leadership[10] and was a Class Day Speaker at the Harvard Law School Commencement.[11][12] Gardi was awarded a Harvard Satter Human Rights Fellowship for her work in Iraq.[13]