12 May 2026
|
Ilana Songsomphan
Ilana has recently completed her International Relations and Global Affairs undergraduate courses at Mahidol University International College alongside participation as the university’s Film Club president and role as a Debater. She is currently interning under the Border and Migration Management team, striving to incorporate her previous experience as a Research Assistant examining the contrast between Thai and Burmese workers in Thailand with migration patterns seen across RSO’s Member States. With her experience as a third-culture individual growing in Bangkok, Thailand, she recognises the importance of cross-cultural communication, and the ability to establish interpersonal relations regarding policy making and amplifying vulnerable voices.
Prior to her current position as intern, Ilana’s passion for social justice can be recognised through her experience with climate resilience initiatives, interaction with labour rights groups and informal work sectors, as well as her role in research dissemination and policy brief discussions surrounding these issues. Ilana aims to accommodate the BMM team’s efforts to enhance capabilities in managing trafficking in persons and people smuggling.
Recommended Book: The Poppy War by Rebecca F. Kuang – “Heavily inspired by the Second Sino-Japanese War through a fantasy lens, Kuang captures the atrocities and complexities of war, discrimination, and identity struggles in a narrative that is both fantastical and realistic. The book encapsulates the consequences of war in the internalization of trauma, the struggle of displacement, as well as with personal identity while simultaneously providing academic depth regarding the historical elements of the War to readers.”