Bryony Lau

Bryony Lau is deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. She supervises research and advocacy across several countries, with a focus on Southeast Asia.

Before joining Human Rights Watch in 2023, Lau supported development and humanitarian programs across the region, in management roles with Médecins Sans Frontières in Myanmar and with The Asia Foundation’s regional conflict team. She has also consulted for various UN agencies and INGOs as a strategic adviser and researcher on issues such as refugee rights, human rights due diligence, and conflict prevention. She began her career with the International Crisis Group, where she was a senior analyst for Southeast Asia.

Lau has published widely about the politics, histories and literatures of Southeast Asia. She holds an MPhil in International Relations from Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and a Hon BA in International Relations and History from the University of Toronto. She speaks fluent English and French and is proficient in Bahasa Indonesia and Burmese.