IHRP Alumni Spotlight: Lane Krainyk

Brenda Chang (3L)

Lane graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 2013 as the valedictorian of his graduating class. Lane articled at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP before returning to the firm as an associate in the litigation group. He subsequently worked in the protection unit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Office for South East Asia, during which time he also completed a secondment with the Regional Support Office of the Bali Process. Lane's most recent role was as Humanitarian Affairs Advisor for the Rohingya Refugee Response in the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.

What were your initial steps following graduation from the Faculty of Law? What drove you to work in the humanitarian and refugee space?

Throughout law school, I was engaged in refugee-related issues, including through IHRP placements with UNHCR Uganda, Legal Aid Ontario's Refugee Law Office and the Burma Lawyers' Council. After graduating, I articled and practiced as an associate at Fasken Martineau in the litigation group. While at Fasken, I maintained my interest and engagement in refugee/humanitarian issues, including by volunteering for Rainbow Railroad. I had the opportunity to return to UNHCR through an alumni fellowship program run by the International Human Rights Program and supported by the Government of Canada and UNHCR. My initial fellowship with the UNHCR Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand led to subsequent positions with the UN in Thailand and Bangladesh.

As an IHRP summer fellow, you worked at the UNHCR in Uganda. Could you tell us about that experience and its impact on you?

I had a great experience working with UNHCR Uganda during my 2L summer. Fortunately, with the support of Fasken, I was able to split my summer between a firm and UNHCR. My work in Uganda involved meeting with asylum seekers and refugees to assess their protection concerns, and liaising with colleagues and partners to identify steps that could be taken to improve their quality of life in Uganda and potential options for durable solutions. This experience affirmed my interest in working in the refugee/humanitarian space.

Later, you worked at the UNHCR Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand. Could you tell us about that experience as well?

I worked in the protection unit of the UNHCR Regional Office for South East Asia for approximately two years. During this time, I was fortunate to work on a wide range of issues with colleagues from across the region. This gave me an appreciation for the challenges that UNHCR and its partners face in different contexts, and the resilience of persons of concern (including asylum seekers, refugees, internally displaced people, and stateless persons). Areas of particular focus in my work included the detention of asylum seekers and refugees, access to legal employment, and human trafficking. I was also tasked with developing and implementing a judicial engagement strategy for the region. During my time in Bangkok, I was seconded to the Regional Support Office of the Bali Process to lead an initiative relating to refugee access to legal employment. I was also deployed to Bangladesh in 2017 during the early stages of the Rohingya refugee crisis to support UNHCR's response to what was then the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world.

Lane accompanying the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on Myanmar, Ms. Christine Schraner Burgener, to her meeting with the Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. Credit: Focus Bangla.

Most recently, you were working with the Resident Coordinator's Office in Bangladesh. What were your responsibilities and day-to-day tasks?

I was most recently seconded by UNHCR to the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh where I worked as the Humanitarian Affairs Advisor for the Rohingya Refugee Response. In this role, I was responsible for supporting the refugee coordination mechanism in place in Bangladesh, liaising closely with UN agencies, NGOs and diplomatic missions, and supporting engagement with the Bangladeshi government on issues relating to the response. A typical day would include ensuring that I was up to date on recent developments/priority issues, meetings with partners and/or government actors and preparing briefing/background materials on the response for colleagues and visiting delegations (and often at least a couple of hours sitting in Dhaka traffic!).

What did you find to be the biggest challenges and rewards in your role in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh is a densely populated country (over 160 million people in an area approximately the size of southern Ontario) prone to regular natural disasters. The arrival of several hundred thousand refugees in a very short period of time in these conditions presented tremendous challenges. Refugees reside in overly congested settlements and have insufficient access to education, healthcare and self-reliance opportunities. While the Bangladeshi government and countries around the world have been extremely generous, there are not enough resources to support the needs of the almost 1 million refugees now hosted in Bangladesh. In this context, the main challenges I saw primarily flowed from the scale and complexity of the response, including those that result from the large number of actors engaged.

However, my work in Bangladesh was also very rewarding. Because of the scale and complexity of the response, I was fortunate to work on a range of interesting, meaningful and challenging issues every day. I worked closely with extremely capable and inspiring people from various UN agencies, NGOs, the government and diplomatic missions. I provided support for high level missions to Bangladesh, including those of the Security Council and the UN Secretary General. Most importantly, I had the opportunity to witness the resilience of the refugees hosted in Bangladesh.

What is your advice for students that are interested in pursuing a career related to human rights and humanitarian law?

I do not think there is a single path to a career working in human rights or on humanitarian issues. My colleagues have come from a wide range of backgrounds and have varying areas of expertise. Many did not enter this line of work directly out of school. I believe that I have benefited significantly from both the refugee-related work/volunteering that I did during and following law school, and the skills that I developed practicing law in Canada. Many of my colleagues (particularly the lawyers) had similar trajectories. Regardless of what you may do immediately after graduating, I think it is useful to find ways to maintain your interest and [gain] experience in these areas, perhaps through academic work, pro bono files or volunteer initiatives, and to develop your network in this space.