Ade Couper is a current board member of Amnesty International UK and works on the Activism Sub-Committee. Having joined Amnesty at the age of 16, Couper’s commitments have extended to being the former Chair of Bristol’s Amnesty International. Additionally, he has been a group trainer and school speaker since 2010 and is currently Country Co-ordinator for South Caucasus and Former Soviet Union. Bristol’s Amnesty International group has been running for around 55 years; Bristol being one of the first local groups to be established within the UK.
Ade represented Amnesty International at this year’s Bristol International Development Conference (BIDC), which was centred on The New Face of Aid. Speaking in the “refugee” strand, Couper led a workshop on Amnesty’s views and response to the current refugee crisis. He explained his approach: “We looked at the background of the crisis, reflecting on aspects such as refugees from France in the 17th and 18th centuries; the Arab Spring, and the wave of revolutions prompting the current situation. I had to condense this down into 45 minutes worth of discussion and then examine the goverment responses, which vary from country to country.”
In development Ade notes how the press is often antagonistic towards refugees and reflects how this in turn leads to extremist organisations, such as the EDL, capitalizing on the fears of the general public and encouraging Islamophobia. Significantly, Ade praises the response he has received from the students of Bristol University, explaining how “we had about 30 people in the room and everyone seemed very engaged and interested with almost everyone asking for an email of the presentation afterwards. To get a group of students out of bed on a Saturday morning means you have to be doing something right!”
(Photo credit: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/meet-board)
Couper stresses the importance of the BIDC, stating that “we need the BIDC and more of them. The one thing I noticed in the sessions I attended, and in particular in the discussion I led, was that people were at the conference to learn. Everyone would have gone in with some preconceptions but everyone was willing to have those preconceptions challenged and changed. This open mindedness was a very positive attitude from the speakers I saw and the people who attended.”
Couper’s developmental work can be seen to extend to Bristol’s larger community. Ade and his fellow Amnesty Bristol members have been working hard on the refugee crisis recently. By working in liaison with various local politicians they have persuaded the Mayor of Bristol, George Ferguson, to utilise the Goverment’s Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme. As a result, from the end of February Bristol will be welcoming some Syrian refugees into the city. Ade expresses his delight at the success of the charity’s movement yet admits his resolve that the Goverment needs to do more: “My response, along with Amnesty, is good but not enough.”
Ade reiterates the significance of Bristol’s Amnesty International group: “I think Amnesty’s presence in Bristol is important. Bristol is a city that possesses such an interesting, checkered history with its long history of radicalism, yet in modernity has become a positive force in which to campaign and represent those who need it most. In particular, we have run some great campaigns that are often in conjunction with the University” an example of which is Amnesty Bristol’s Goldney Hall charity event which has been running for 30 years.
Ade concludes: “We get a lot of good, on the ground local support. I’m proud of what Amnesty has done in Bristol; it is a thriving city and we get the opportunity within such a diverse community to raise the human rights flag and make people aware of some of the problems going on in the world.”
Check out the local Amnesty International Bookshop on Gloucester Road.
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