We’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Refugee Law Clinic and taking this opportunity to reach out for donations. To maintain the successful work of the last 10 years, and to be able to cover recurring costs in the future as an independent organisation, the Refugee Law Clinic Berlin needs donations. With your support, the RLC Berlin can continue to work for the rights of protection seekers for the next 10 years and beyond!
What is the RLC Berlin?
The Refugee Law Clinic Berlin e.V. is an association founded in 2014 by students at Humboldt University, which fights for access to the law for everyone, regardless of origin and social status.
The RLC Berlin offers free and independent legal advice for refugees and migrants in Berlin. To train interested parties to become voluntary legal advisors in migration law, the RLC Berlin organises a lecture cycle that takes place each academic year. The two-part lecture cycle prepares participants to carry out pro bono legal advisory work for refugees and migrants in Berlin. Last year alone, around 60 people successfully completed the lecture cycle - a new record! The ten advisory teams usually provide legal advice on a weekly basis throughout the city. The RLC is furthermore committed to incorporating aspects of migration law more strongly into the legal education system.
The operation of the association is maintained by groups made up entirely of volunteers, currently consisting of: AG Ausbildung (training), AG Beratung (legal advice), AG Finanzen (finances), AG Öffentlichkeitsarbeit (public relations), AG Veranstaltung und Vernetzung (events) and, since the beginning of the year, the AG Antidiskriminierung (anti-discrimination). The association also works closely with Professor Pauline Endres de Oliveira, who holds the professorship of Law and Migration at Humboldt University in Berlin, particularly during the yearly lecture cycle.
How will my donation be used?
The RLC is dependent on money to cover recurring costs and to facilitate further development of the association. We would like to give a few examples of the costs incurred during the association's work:
The AG Beratung organizes monthly workshops on specific migration law topics (e.g. church asylum or asylum procedures for minors) to continuously update the knowledge of the advisors. To make these workshops possible, the RLC Berlin invites highly qualified external lecturers from the legal profession as well as dedicated NGOs and associations. In addition to these monthly workshops, the association aims to respond to the needs of advisors through other events. One recent example was a two-day workshop on how to sensitively handle trauma of refugees in an advisory session.
Additional expenses are also incurred for the remuneration of external lecturers as part of the year-long lecture cycle as well as the monthly supervision costs for the supervisors of the 10 advisory teams. The RLC also provides overall supervision, which addresses the concerns of all the advisory teams alongside their supervision. Without the supervision, it would not be legally possible for the association to offer legal advice at all. Material costs are incurred, for example, through public relations (flyers, stickers, business cards, etc.). With events such as Christmas parties or this year's anniversary celebration in December arise expenses for rental space and snacks and drinks.
For reasons of transparency, we would like to inform you that the association receives valuable financial support from the professorship of Prof. Pauline Endres de Oliveira, which particularly covers part of the supervision costs. There is a mutual interest on the part of the association and the professorship to ensure the independence of the association (also financially). Nevertheless, the valuable financial support from the professorship is far from sufficient to cover the costs in the long term. This also applies to the generous financial support RLC Berlin receives from foundations, which the association regularly seeks.
Why now?
The RLC Berlin is convinced that giving protection seekers access to justice, to which there are entitled, by providing free legal advice is sadly once more becoming highly relevant. Blaming “migrants” and “immigration” for all manner of political problems has been a dominant rhetoric for many years but it has increased in prevalence in recent months under the current social climate. Basic rights as well as minimum standards for those seeking protection under the rule of law are increasingly being called into question. Recently passed tighter laws within the framework of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) or the so-called “security package”, whose conformity with the German Basic Law and EU law is highly questionable, are just the latest examples of how the social climate described is being reflected in laws that make the arrival and life of migrants in Germany even more difficult.
It is therefore even more important that migrants and protection seekers are made aware of their rights and can make use of them. The RLC has been contributing to this for ten years. The RLC also tries to counter racist resentment and the political climate in the country through its lecture cycle, which is open to everyone without exception.
The 10th anniversary of RLC Berlin illustrates that the association has been able to train a sizeable number of people through its yearly lecture cycle, promote voluntary engagement in the field of asylum law and above all offer free legal advice to protection seekers. However, the challenges facing this voluntary engagement are no less significant.
To support the association while we face these challenges, the Refugee Law Clinic would like to ask for a donation in the amount of your choice. Thank you very much!
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