Rayana Ajam is one of six talented young Australians who will travel to the UN General Assembly in New York next week as part of the Global Voices project.

They take with them policy position papers on highly topical legal issues. Over the coming days, we will get a glimpse into the ideas and ambitions of these young leaders.

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For two years, the world has watched war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity unfold in real time. The international legal system, built to protect human rights and dignity, now looks powerless. With every passing day, faith in the so-called “rules-based order” erodes. History doesn’t just repeat, it rhymes in horror.

My interest in international human rights law wasn’t a choice, but inherited. I am the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants whose stories are threaded through with history’s injustices. My father fled apartheid South Africa and my mother migrated from Fiji, both carrying the enduring scars of British colonialism that had dispossessed the Indian diaspora. They came to Australia seeking a better life, and brought with them lessons of struggle, teaching me that silence in the face of injustice is a privilege we were never afforded.

I grew up on stories of survival and systems rigged to fail us.

At university, I watched civilians become footnotes in research and policy debates. That silence felt like complicity. So I joined Amnesty International, supporting crisis responses in Gaza, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Iran. I managed cases for people fleeing persecution and individuals at risk. Every case made it clear: the law on paper is not the law in practice.

That realisation led me to law school and, later, to the Global Voices Sir Ninian Stephen Law Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. I wanted to bridge the gap between grassroots activism and international law, because that gap is where injustice thrives.

It was on 28 July 2025 that Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong confirmed that Australia had been supplying arms and parts to Israel, a state accused of genocide. This is a country whose prime minister is wanted by the International Criminal Court. That revelation didn’t just expose a flawed policy, it exposed a moral indictment and Australia’s growing role in the very crimes we condemn.

Across the country, Australians are now taking to the streets, demanding our government stop exporting weapons to regimes accused of atrocities. But our current defence export system is riddled with loopholes. It lacks meaningful human rights assessments, has no end-use verification and offers no assurance that Australian components aren’t being used to commit grave crimes.

Despite being a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty and the Geneva Conventions, Australia ranks among the world’s top 20 arms exporters. In 2022–23, our military spending reached US$49 billion. Between 2023 and 2024, 35 export permits were granted to countries accused of war crimes, including Israel and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, our partnerships with nations operating under “free-licence” trade environments make it nearly impossible to trace where our parts end up.

We’ve built a system that chooses not to know. And that ignorance is complicity.

My policy paper is focused on closing those legislative gaps. I’m developing a policy proposal that strengthens our defence export laws, focused on establishing a robust end-use verification system that tracks where Australian defence exports go and immediately halts supply when components are used in human rights abuses or risks violations of international humanitarian law.

The urgency couldn’t be clearer. From Gaza to Yemen, Congo to Afghanistan, civilians are paying the price of the world’s indifference, and Australia’s silence.

My story began with silenced voices. It continues with a determination to amplify them. The international legal system and policy are not abstract tools; they are instruments of justice, if only we choose to use them that way.

Australia’s arms export control system is a mirror. Right now, that reflection is cloudy, compromised and dangerous.

As I embark on this journey to the UN General Assembly in New York, I remind young Australians that this fight is ours, and the future of international justice is in our hands. We must take to these platforms and spaces, demanding accountability from our government and those in power.

We cannot be the generation that lets history repeat itself.

We must act now.

Global Voices is a youth-led Australian not-for-profit committed to developing the next generation of policy leaders by providing practical experience in policy-making, international relations and diplomacy. The fellowship involves pre-departure briefings in Canberra, travel to a high-level international summit and the publication of a Policy Paper that contributes a fresh perspective to Australian legislation.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.