Purvi Patel

Purvi Patel

Former Visiting Fellow and Council on Foreign Relations, International Affairs Fellow in India

Purvi Patel is an attorney and humanitarian professional with a background in public health working in the international humanitarian and development sectors, with specific experience in public health, refugee protection, durable solutions, detention, legal status determination, and disability rights. More recently, she has focused on the application data analytics and data visualization tools to drive more targeted, inclusive, and intersectional responses to legal protection and humanitarian interventions for displaced families. From 2013-2023, Purvi worked in Latin America for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Danish Refugee Council, the International Center for Migration Policy Development, as well as other NGOs on topics including labor rights, forced migration, refugee protection, migration and health, and protection information management, particularly in Peru, Mexico, Costa Rica, Libya, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. She most recently served as the Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Officer for UNHCR´s operation in Peru. Prior to 2013, Purvi practiced as a health & disability lawyer in Chicago. Purvi holds a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law, and a master’s in public health from Tufts University School of Medicine.  She has also earned certificates in Forced Migration from the Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and in Data Analytics & Visualization from the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.  She currently serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Refugee Coalition.

Recent projects

15-Patel-Prakash Courtesy:
5 December 2024 Forced Migration Review

Applying a multi-sector analysis to financing forced displacement response

Conversations on forced displacement in many cases still centre on the climate versus conflict dichotomy, but multiple factors including social inequality, poor infrastructure and weak governance, often combine as triggers for displacement. A more analytical approach to financing forced displacement response is necessary to enable humanitarian actors to work more effectively in the allocation of resource and disaster preparedness.
Banner_Final Courtesy:
31 October 2024 Gateway House

India-Myanmar: Borderland Dynamics

Gateway House presents a timeline that highlights the cross-border dynamics between Myanmar and India’s northeast. Myanmar’s military coup and breakdown of authority have aggravated existing local problems related to population displacement, border security, competition for resources and ethnic tensions. Now India must engage more directly with the entities that control land along its borders, and the local communities who know it best.
Banner_Final Courtesy:
31 October 2024 Gateway House

India-Myanmar: Borderland Dynamics

The timeline records the daily instances and ongoing cross-border dynamics between India and Myanmar since the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar. It tracks the events taking place in the eight states along the Indo-Myanmar border—four states in India (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur) and four in Myanmar (Kachin, Sagaing, Chin, and Rakhine), revealing their social, political and economic interconnectedness.
ITU DDF Courtesy:
9 July 2024 Gateway House

Convening to advance digital tools for development

Digital ecosystems, their evolution and regulation was the focus of USAID’s annual conference on global digital development. For Global South actors, the conference offered suggestions on addressing climate impact, disinformation, and building resilient digital infrastructure.
Purvi Pod photo Courtesy: Purvi Patel
5 April 2024 Gateway House

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 10, Hyper-local, cross-border dialogue benefits

How can hyper-local, cross-border dialogue provide stability in border communities? International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Visiting Fellow at Gateway House, Purvi Patel, on a recent visit to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, observed similarities with other complex cases such as the India-Myanmar border and offers lessons for them.
Myanmar TPS Courtesy: Reuters
4 April 2024 Gateway House

U.S.’ Temporary Protected Status for Myanmar

In March, the U.S. announced an extension of Myanmar’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS), in light of the deteriorating situation. TPS provides legal status in the U.S., as an alternative to refugee status, to all nationals of a designated country fleeing instability. TPS shares similarities and key differences with refugee status, which are worth understanding in order to build strong protective legal framework for forcibly displaced communities.

TrumpV.Biden-indiaToday-2_1200x768 Courtesy: India Today
8 February 2024 Gateway House

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 5, The U.S.’ precarious electoral contest

Former President Trump and incumbent President Biden have emerged as frontrunners in the ongoing U.S. primaries. While the former faces several legal hurdles, the latter has been criticised for his response to the crises in Israel and Ukraine and the strategic contest with China. Neelam Deo, co-founder, Gateway House, speaks with Purvi Patel, International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, about the electoral race, legal challenges to Trump's candidature, and what India can expect from another Trump presidency.
-1x-1 Courtesy: Bloomberg
1 February 2024 Gateway House

Breaking the conflict vs. climate dichotomy

Two climate and environment conferences in December 2023, one with global attention in Dubai and the other with a hyper-local focus in the Eastern Himalayas, highlighted the need for a more nuanced conversation on climate and forced population displacement. They both point to a need for a multi-factored model in the analytical approach to forced migration.
guyana Courtesy: Revolutionary Communist Group
14 December 2023 Gateway House

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 2, Essequibo dispute: colonial shadows and resource riches

Venezuela's claim to the Essequibo region of neighbouring Guyana has focused world attention on yet another colonial-era border dispute. With elections coming up, the declining Venezuelan economy laying claim to newly-discovered rich oil and mineral deposits in Guyana has some traction. For Guyana, the claim to its land is non-negotiable as this developing country looks forward to accessing its own wealth. Purvi Patel, Visiting Fellow at Gateway House and Latin America expert, offers her insight.
124675-zcjjvgapsv-1640766266 Courtesy: Scroll
7 December 2023 Gateway House

Navigating terminological dilemmas on “Climate Refugees”

From COP to COP, the discussions focus on climate change and its impacts. But none have yet addressed a critical issue: the definition of a “climate refugee” or climate-related forced migration. Some contend that the issue requires a revision in the 1951 Refugee Convention. But with refugee and migrant flows to the borders of Western democracies, the term “refugee” is often re-framed as a concern about preservation of culture and values.