Asylos Volunteering Opportunity

About Asylos:

Asylos is a network of volunteer researchers providing on demand background research to support asylum claims. The research concerns the situation in the country of origin of the asylum seeker or other facts relating to an individual asylum claim. In many countries, legal aid provided for asylum seekers is limited.

Lawyers cannot devote sufficient time to researching information that may substantiate asylum requests in court. Asylos volunteers look for information that can help to establish whether forcing a refugee to return to his/her country of origin or transit would threaten his/her life or deny fundamental human and civil rights.

The Role: 

Asylos is looking for researchers with legal expertise and experience for all its five research teams (Afghanistan/Pakistan; Africa; MENA; Russia/CIS; Global).

The volunteer researcher will conduct research to support asylum seekers coming from the region they get assigned to. This entails looking into security situations, human rights violations and any other facts that will support an asylum seeker in proving his/her need for protection. When working on referrals from the UK the volunteer will also use their legal expertise to assist their team in reading and analysing relevant country guidance cases, Home Office Policy and Information Notes and where possible paperwork (such a statements / Home Office and Tribunal decision letters) from the client in order to identify the specific COI needs.

S/he will have to commit to up to two hours of research per week pro rata (the nature of the work means this will be more hours one week and no hours another week) and will work remotely in close cooperation with the other team members and team coordinators.

What They're Looking For: 

● Strong research skills and an experience in academic research (and ideally in country-of-origin information research)

● Experience of working in the asylum and immigration legal sector

● A strong interest in Asylos’s mission and values

● Excellent knowledge of English; knowledge of other languages spoken in countries of origin is a strong advantage

● A willingness to use online collaboration tools

● A strong commitment to meet tight deadlines

What Asylos offer:

● An opportunity to help change the lives of asylum seekers and get involved in a dynamic project with a fast-growing organisation

● An international network of highly qualified and motivated volunteers with meetings in cities such as London, Berlin, Brussels and Paris

● An inclusive working atmosphere with room for taking initiative and proposing new projects

● Training in COI research techniques

● Participation in Asylos’s annual network meeting

How to Apply: 

To apply, please send your CV and a short letter of motivation to info@asylos.eu .

Please also mention which of our regional team(s) you are most interested in working with.

For more information on Asylos , visit our website www.asylos.eu, and follow us on Twitter ( @asylos_ ) and Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/asylos.research ).