The Refugee Law Clinic aims to entrust students with the task of drafting real asylum applications, applications for residence on medical grounds or applications for humanitarian regularisation. For the academic years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, the Refugee Law Clinic is part of a larger project that also includes health sciences students in order to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of applications for protection or for residence. This leads students to attend legal aid services within NGO’s in order to identify a relevant case. Students meet with the applicants; first in the presence of the lawyer in charge of the case, and then independently, to discuss with the applicant, write their life story and add relevant new elements to the case.

The Refugee Law Clinic was created in 2016 following the large influx of migrants in Belgium and the many initiatives and outpourings of solidarity that have appeared, particularly at the ULB, to help these refugees. The project was born under the impetus of students committed to helping migrants and a desire for collaboration between students, NGO’s, lawyers and the Law Faculty. The clinic was then integrated into the Equality Law Clinic and has been directed by Céline VERBROUCK since 2017.

The Refugee Law Clinic meets a need for concrete and effective training in asylum law for tomorrow’s lawyers and practitioners. The field is also in need of properly trained lawyers. The Clinic is supported by avocats.be, the Brussels Bar, the Brussels Legal Aid Office, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, Avocats sans frontière, the Conseil du Contentieux des étrangers, CIRE and many others, who are part of its Steering Committee.

 

For more information, please visit the Refugee Law Clinic website.