Sangeetha Iengar

Sangeetha (she/her) is an award-winning international human rights barrister who sits as a judge in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber and holds appointments as a Senior Scholar on climate-related migration at both Oxford and Yale Universities. She has two decades of experience specialising in asylum, immigration and international human rights matters and is a thought leader in the fields of global migration, climate and international human rights.

Sangeetha (she/her) has acted in several landmark human rights cases over the course of her career and has carved her niche at the Bar through her dedication to promoting the rights of the most disadvantaged groups. A committed advocate, Sangeetha has had over 50 significant appearances giving expert legal opinion on international law issues in the radio, TV and print media over the last few years alone, prior to her judicial appointment. Sangeetha’s first TEDx Talk examined how the erosion of migrants’ rights is a precursor to the erosion of everyone’s rights. She is currently harnessing her expertise and experience as a seasoned advocate, practitioner, scholar, public speaker and adjudicator, to promote a rights-based approach to climate-related migration. Sangeetha is examining how the intersections of labour mobility, climate, migration and human rights can work together to create legal pathways for tangible change.

Outside of work, Sangeetha has an insatiable wanderlust – her ideal life would revolve around swimming to moonrises and hiking to catch sunrises in the most far flung corners of the world.