Every year we open the Lacuna Writing Competition to all undergraduate and postgraduate students in Warwick Law School and the Warwick Writing Programme. The annual opportunity, organised by the Centre for Human Rights in Practice, invites students to submit a short piece of journalism, creative writing, memoir or some other artistic expression that appeals to the general public, on a current issue of their choosing that includes themes of injustice and human rights. Below you can find this year’s winning story by Balsher Singh Tiwana, along with other pieces from previous winners and runners-up.
‘Bulldozer justice’: The survivors of India’s forced demolitions of Muslim shanty towns
By Balsher Singh Tiwana
In April 2025, a parade of 50 bulldozers carried out a forced demolition of 2,000 homes, referred to as “encroachments”, around Chandola Lake, in Ahmedabad, India. Bangali Vas wasn’t the first poor Muslim community to be reduced to rubble, and critics have questioned the legality and morality of such forced demolitions which reflect a move in India to target Muslims, with many labelled “Bangladeshi” despite being Indian citizens. Based on a web of news reports, this story highlights the people at the heart of these communities.
Find the full story here.
The far-right racist riots of summer 2024: Britain’s hidden bigotry
By Nasha Salahudeen
“For a nation built on immigration, we seem awfully intolerant of it.”
Reflecting on her identity as a first-generation British-Sri Lankan, a first-year undergraduate student captures the fear and frustration felt by many during the far-right riots in the UK during the summer of 2024.
Find the full story here.
The right to health in times of crisis: ‘Necropolitics’ in Brazil’s favelas during the Covid-19 pandemic
By Maria Weickardt Soares
Who decides who has the right to health and the right to life in the favelas of Brazil? And what impact did the Covid-19 pandemic have on the 16 million people living in favelas? After spending two years in Brazil, and visiting Complexo do Alemão favela in Rio de Janeiro, PhD student Maria Weickardt Soares reflects on the severe inequalities these communities have to face on a day-to-day basis.
Find the full story here.
Resistance is existence: The defiant Palestinian art of the West Bank Separation Wall
By Jaskiran Sandhu
This memoir from a summer spent in Palestine explores the existence and resistance of communities living in the shadow of the Separation Wall. Undergraduate Law student Jaskiran Sandhu explored the impact of the Israeli barrier separating the Palestinian territory.
Find the full story here.
Bisan Owda: Palestine’s Cultural Vlogger Turned War Reporter
By Eli Langfere
“Across the sea from Palestine, the thing separating us and them is a thin glass screen.”
This tribute to Bisan Owda, Palestine’s cultural vlogger turned war journalist, was written by Eli Langfere, an undergraduate student.
Find the full story here.
MOVE: A Rohingya child dances for hope in the world’s largest refugee camp
By Amber Shah
“Ma always says that you never walked your first steps; you danced them.”
This story about a Rohingya child forced to flee her home, was written by Amber Shah, who was inspired by her work on a Save the Children campaign for justice for the Rohingya people.
Find the full story here.
Teaching in lockdown: Emergency English classes for refugee children
By Ruby Turok-Squire
This evocative story by Ruby Turok-Squire brings to life the challenges – and rewards – of teaching during the Covid pandemic lockdown. She details her experience of cycling from garden to garden to read with refugee children under the restrictions of social distancing in the West Midlands, UK.
Find the full story here.
‘Window dressing’ in the COVID-19 pandemic: The troubling story behind the rainbows in the windows
By Amanda Kowalczyk
How has the meaning of the iconic rainbows in the window changed over the course of the pandemic? Mum-of-two Amanda Kowalczyk recounts her experience of putting rainbows in the window with her young children and reflects on how she began to notice their potentially sinister undertones.
Find the full story here.
Photo by Alex Motoc on Unsplash
Fleeing Palestine – and what happened next
By Salma Eleyan
This memoir of fleeing Palestine as a child was written by Salma Eleyan, who takes us from Palestine, through Egypt, to Europe, sharing her mother’s pain of repeated visa refusals in their search for a home.
Find the full story here.
Featured image by Eugene Chystiakov via Unsplash
