ASF recruits 01 Volunteer – SAMOS LEGAL CENTER (GREECE)

ASF recruits 01 Volunteer – SAMOS LEGAL CENTER (GREECE)

Brief Presentation of Avocats Sans Frontières France

Avocats Sans Frontières France (Lawyers Without Borders France or ASF France) is a French non-governmental organization established under 1^st July 1901 French legislation.

Its mission is to:

• Promote access to the law and fair justice for vulnerable persons who are removed from it, arbitrarily detained or tortured;
• Defend any person deprived of a free and independent defence, as well as human rights defenders threatened or violated in the performance of their duties;
• Strengthen the capacity and the autonomy of local actors in the defence and promotion of human rights (civil society and actors in the judicial system).

Description of the mission:

ASF France is looking for volunteers to contribute to ensuring a daily legal presence to advise asylum seekers on Samos island, commencing in January 2022.

Under the responsibility of the Project Manager on the ground and in close collaboration with the rest of the team (2 Greek Lawyers, 1 other international volunteer and 2 interpreters), s/he will have as primary responsibilities:

• Casework
  • Inform asylum seekers of their rights and the procedures applicable to them in person at the office;
  • Answer asylum seekers’ daily requests on the Legal Centre’s hotline;
  • Create, maintain and update files for each assisted asylum seeker on a dedicated database;
  • Prepare people for their asylum interview or appointments with the authorities, going through their stories and informing them of their rights;
  • Identify persons with vulnerabilities and refer them to other organisations present in Samos if needed with the support of the Project Manager;

• Information sharing
  • Deliver online legal information sessions for other international volunteers working on Samos.
  • Deliver in-person legal information sessions for asylum seekers in community centres on the island.

• Research and administrative support
• Assist and support the Greek lawyers with their interventions when necessary;
• Support the work for the cases submitted before the European Court of Human Rights and other identified national, European and international bodies.

COVID-19 context:

The mission is taking place in Samos, Greece. According to the sanitary context, the volunteer can be asked to carry out part or the whole mission remotely. If the sanitary conditions allow it and after validation from headquarters, the volunteer will be sent to Samos.

The volunteer will be asked to sign and respect a strict hygiene protocol in order to avoid contamination risks, but as well to sign an acknowledgement of sanitary and security risks. ASF France retains the right to repatriate its team after deployment, according to the evolution of the sanitary context, subject to the direction of headquarters.

Expériences / Formation

• Master’s or undergraduate degree in law (human rights, international and/or refugee law).
• Fluency in English and French (Arabic, Farsi/Dari, Somali and Greek an advantage).
• Experience: some first-hand experience of casework and providing legal advice.

Qualities requested from the volunteer:

• Ability to work under pressure, intuitively and with a high degree of flexibility.
• Excellent written, research and IT skills.
• Ability to self-organise, prioritise and time-manage effectively.
• Ability to work as a team and on their own initiative.
• Strong communicative and interpersonal skills.

Benefits for the volunteer:

• Gain field experience of casework and providing legal advice, and of the work of a legal aid NGO.
• Develop professionally within a rewarding international environment.
• Work with and learn from a dynamic international team of Greek asylum experts.
• Contribute to the respect and implementation of asylum seekers’ rights

Salaire

• Minimum 3-month commitment.
• Accommodation on-site in shared housing.
• Accompanied departure not possible.
• €12.50 daily per diem
• Paid flights to and from the mission in Samos.

All volunteers need to register (€15 subscription fee for jobseekers and students) to ASF France to avail  of insurance cover during the mission.

Comment postuler

Documents to be sent: CV and cover letter to samos@avocatssansfrontieres-france.org

Applications will be reviewed throughout the month of December, with start dates in January 2022.