VIVIENNE CHEW joined the IDC as the Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator in 2012, and is currently serving as Acting Co-Director. Prior to that, she worked for over 8 years with refugee and asylum seeking communities, predominantly in countries of first asylum.
During that time, she successfully established and managed refugee legal aid programs for Asylum Access in Thailand and Tanzania. She also served as the Chair of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network’s (APRRN) Immigration Detention Working Group from 2014 to 2018. Vivienne has undertaken a number of research projects on children’s rights, birth registration, statelessness, and the inclusion of refugees in the formal labour market in Malaysia.
Vivienne holds a Law degree from the University of Cardiff, Wales, and a Master’s degree in International Human Rights from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. Prior to joining the humanitarian sector, she practiced as a corporate finance lawyer for Clifford Chance LLP in London and Thailand. Vivienne is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.