Over the past year, ProtectDefenders.eu’s Temporary Relocation Programme supported 72 human rights defenders at heightened risk, relocating them, often with their families, internationally, regionally, or within their own countries, and in 50% of cases, extending that protection to their families. 65% of those relocated were women or belonged to gender minorities. 36% were young defenders.
This is a programme built around the whole person.
What sets this programme apart is its recognition that protection is not just physical. The past year saw a growing emphasis on psycho-social support, rest and respite, and the continuation of human rights work remotely, acknowledging what those who work in this field know well: that the cumulative toll of trauma, displacement, and prolonged insecurity does not disappear the moment someone reaches safety.
At the same time, the programme faced significant headwinds. Shrinking of regional safe havens, the rise of transnational repression, now reaching into EU Member States themselves, and increasingly restrictive visa regimes created serious obstacles to timely relocations. For many defenders, returning home has also become harder than ever.
Perhaps no case illustrates the transformative potential of temporary relocation more clearly than that of Z.S., an Afghan woman human rights defender who spent years advocating for girls’ education and women’s rights under Taliban rule, work that became not only dangerous, but in many cases, illegal.
Through ProtectDefenders.eu, in collaboration with the Catalan Commission for Refugee Aid, Z.S. was supported through a relocation to Spain. What she found there went far beyond physical safety: psychosocial care, digital security training, and opportunities to engage in advocacy at local, national, and EU levels. Working alongside Ponts per la Pau, she extended her support to other women defenders, turning her own experience of protection into a platform for others.
Her story carries a lesson that runs through the entire programme: temporary relocation is not simply a refuge but a starting point, a space in which defenders can rebuild and continue the work that put them at risk in the first place.
What comes next?
The programme’s results confirm both its relevance and its limitations. As risks facing human rights defenders intensify globally, the need for flexible, regionalised, and sustainable protection mechanisms has never been greater. Political will and sustained financial investment will be essential to ensure that temporary relocation can continue to be what it has proven to be — not just a lifeline, but a catalyst for change.
Want to know more, check out PD Annual Report 2024/2025!
