Welcome
Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid
This website takes as its ambitious challenge to be a one-stop shop of resources for everyone concerned with protecting the rights of refugees, in particular those who are representing refugees seeking asylum in the global south. Agencies working in the north also are often in urgent need of information and assistance with cases from their colleagues in the south. This website will facilitate organisations to work collaboratively to strengthen and expand rights-based advocacy and legal aid for refugees. A major aim of this website is to increase efficiency and effectiveness and raise the standards of professionalism in providing legal aid for refugees.
In 2010, UNHCR reported 53 countries that have produced 9,000 refugees or more. This suggests that to a greater or lesser degree, we are all working with refugees from the 'same' countries. We unnecessarily limit our access to information and resources by working in isolation. For example, lawyers in Hong Kong, Korea and Japan, like those in Israel, Zambia, Mexico, and Brazil are all struggling to get information to defend cases from the Democratic Republic of Congo. (On the other hand, this same source (http://www.unhcr.org/4c11f0be9.html) lists 193 states that produced refugees; it includes Canada, the United Kingdom, the USA and even Sweden. This means that there is no 'safe' country.)
This website identifies several areas with which legal aid providers often need assistance - see 'Special Issues in Refugee Status Determination'. Each of these pages has a Resource Person who has agreed to consult with legal advisers on a confidential basis to strengthen your case, or refer you to other specialists who will work with you confidentially. We know each Resource Person and can recommend them without question; all have also signed on to the Nairobi Code.
The website is also meant to be useful to refugees, particularly the vast majority in the global south who do not have access to legal aid tailored for them. The page, Refugee Voices, includes information about newspapers developed by refugees and websites of refugee and Diaspora organizations, often a useful way to find missing relatives. Your suggestions for content for this page is requested.
You are also invited to join the moderated list-serv, SRLAN-list [at] fahamu [dot] org (SRLAN-list[at]fahamu.org). Members use it to share information, discussing problems and only distributing redacted cases or requesting country of origin information.
The website has been designed to accommodate those who only have low-bandwidth internet access; hence no pictures or logos have been included.The only exception is the section, Films, and your help in identifying films useful for teaching and awareness raising are welcomed.
No website is ever complete, so please info [at] srlan [dot] org (contact us) with your suggestions for additions, especially as regards legal aid case work.
