Over 100,000 refugees remain in Greece having made the dangerous journey in search of safety.
Thousands of them are still waiting to go through the asylum process. With no legal aid available ahead of the first-instance asylum interview and only a handful of lawyers working with the camps, many of these people go through the process without receiving any legal advice.
"For some people, the outcome of their asylum interview could be matter of life or death."
Since 2019, our volunteer lawyers have undertaken pro bono secondments as part of a collaborative project with legal charity, European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL). The project is an award-winning international collaboration with ELIL and five other firms (Dentons, White & Case LLP, Allen & Overy, Ashurst and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP). It aims to help address the access to justice crisis for asylum seekers in Greece, including many who have gone through extremely challenging journeys escaping from countries such as Afghanistan and Syria. Many asylum seekers have fled from homes where they would be subject to dire conditions such as forced marriage, FGM, and human trafficking. These people all need vital legal support as the outcome of their asylum interview could be a matter of life or death. The work secondees do involves incredibly interesting and vital support to ELIL’s lawyers in asylum interview preparation sessions, note-taking, fact-checking, producing first draft supporting memoranda, and assisting with specific legal research.
“It helped me reconnect with why I became a lawyer in the first place, what was important to me and that was ultimately helping people,” says Rose Carey, Partner in the Immigration team, of the work she did in Greece. “You can’t put a measure on the profound effect that has and the importance of the work you do as a volunteer.”
Almost 70% of ELIL’s clients are granted refugee protection, compared with a general success rate in Greece of 32%, which highlights the life-changing impact that secondees can make. To date, 14 Charles Russell Speechlys lawyers have completed two-week secondments with ELIL, each supporting on a range of casework and research. The contribution of secondees to this project is significant and we hope that it will only continue to grow.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in Spring 2020, Charles Russell Speechlys worked closely with ELIL and the other firms in the initiative to shift the secondments from in-person to remote support. This meant that lawyers across the world were still able to assist asylum seekers from their own homes. Phil Worthington, Managing Director of ELIL, said that “through the remote support of secondees, we were able to not only continue our work but actually increase our capacity, meaning more refugees have been able to receive high-quality legal support.”
If you are interested in finding out more about this project, contact Sarah Farrelly.
